Chapter 1007: Anxious Hearts in the Chengxin Hall

The Chengxin Hall had originally been the residence of Li Jing, the middle sovereign of the Southern Tang. After Li Yu ascended the throne, it naturally became his dwelling as well, where he spent his days reading and painting, composing poetry and writing rhapsodies, or inviting like-minded friends to sit and discuss the Dao, savoring refined elegance. Nurtured and steeped in the influence of two generations of exceptionally talented emperors, Li Jing and Li Yu, the Chengxin Hall exuded an aura of culture both inside and out—refined, lofty, and unlike the vulgar world.

Li Yu had been on the throne for barely two years, all told, yet what his father left him was not a stable and prosperous realm, but a mess of internal troubles and external threats, a country in decline. Even a man of great talent and bold vision, facing such a situation of internal strife and external pressure, would find it like a clever woman unable to cook without rice—let alone Li Yu?

He was merely a romantic talent who delighted in literature and classics; being an emperor was truly too much to ask of him. Of course, on the other hand, the fact that Li Yu's performance after taking the throne in this era had degenerated even more swiftly and thoroughly than in the original timeline was perhaps also because the situation had already deteriorated beyond recovery—immersing himself in his own hobbies might well have been a means of escape.

Yet even if he wished to shut his ears to the world outside, the pressure from the Central Plains court was keenly felt by Li Yu, especially those edicts and invitations, which struck at his will like death warrants.

Fear, dread, confusion—in fact, as early as when he heard that the court was preparing for the southern pacification war, Li Yu had already lost all hope for the future. At first, he had not considered accepting Emperor Liu's invitation to travel north to the Eastern Capital, but he dared not.

Of course, to say he had completely abandoned resistance, letting the towering flood drown his country and topple his ancestral temples, would not be entirely true either. For instance, the personnel reshuffling in the Yangtze defenses was a sign of struggle, yet beyond that, he seemed unable to think of any more useful measures. People are always complex—even when mired in despair, there may still be a sliver of hope within.

Just like at this moment, Li Yu still clung to a faint illusion.

Inside the Chengxin Hall, Li Yu sat in the seat of honor. The sovereign of Jiangnan had a very handsome appearance, a crown upon his head, and an aura of scholarly refinement about him—the very image of a Confucian scholar and talented youth. Perhaps due to excessive indulgence in wine and women, he looked somewhat wan and hollow, his pallid face paired with a slightly melancholic gaze. Such a temperament could easily arouse pity in the hearts of women.

Also seated in the hall were several senior ministers of the court: Chancellor Xu Xuan, Chen Qiao of the Guangzheng Yuan advisory office, Commissioner of Military Affairs Feng Yanlu, and Minister of Personnel Zhong Mo. These four were the men who held the principal power in the Jinling court at present.

Yet observing their caliber, one got a sense of decline and decay. Xu Xuan, as a famed scholar of Jiangnan and a veteran minister of three reigns, had long been close to Han Xizai and was a member of the earlier reformist faction. In terms of literary talent, he was a master, but in the capacity for governing the state, he was ultimately lacking, with no notable achievements to his name.

Chen Qiao was also a veteran minister, a loyal one—truly one of the upright and righteous men Li Jing had left to Li Yu. Since Li Yu's accession, he had repeatedly admonished and urged him to rouse himself and revitalize the state. He was also the most unequivocal and vehement opponent of the court in the imperial hall, hoping to strengthen military preparations and resist its annexation. Yet in the end, he was merely a civil official—full of fervent passion and eloquent in speech, but when it came to military affairs and army administration, he was truly powerless.

Feng Yanlu came from a distinguished family and inherited his elder brother's political capital. Personally, he was also broadly learned and knowledgeable, and in moral character he stood considerably higher than his brother Feng Yansi. But to ask him to prop up a collapsing mansion or turn back the surging tide was truly asking too much of him.

As for Zhong Mo, there was no need to mention him at all—by now, if anyone in the Jinling court still did not know of his collusion with the court, they would have to be blind. Zhong Mo had long been the leader of the "peace faction," and he had gone to the Eastern Capital as an envoy more than once.

What was rather helpless was that Li Yu could only rely on these men. Over the past two years, it was precisely these people who had maintained stability and kept the normal functioning of the government going.

To say Jiangnan lacked talent would obviously be impossible—since ancient times, the Jiangdong region had produced many brilliant men. It was just that as sovereigns, neither Li Jing nor Li Yu had the discernment to recognize talent or the wisdom to employ it.

Besides the four ministers, there was one more official: Chen Qi, the magistrate of Jinling, a famous "unyielding magistrate" of Jiangnan—stiff in temperament, unafraid of the powerful, unafraid of ghosts and gods, and especially detesting the supernatural. That he had hurriedly entered the palace this time and managed to startle Li Yu out of his indulgence in romance and beauty clearly meant something major was afoot.

It turned out that fishermen on the Yangtze had discovered some floating cylinders drifting downstream from the upper reaches. When opened, they contained letter after letter. What was written on them were the Great Han Emperor's edict for the southern pacification and a letter to the people of Jiangnan. This was Cao Bin's doing upstream, following precedent, having people make these—the same old trick, a scheme to attack the heart.

At this moment, Li Yu was agitated and distraught, his face full of sorrow. Holding one of the edicts in his hand, his hand trembled slightly, and his handsome face now looked rather pitiful. His lips quivered as he murmured to himself: "So in the eyes of the court, I am such a wanton, benighted sovereign—and is this how the people of Jiangnan see me too?"

Seeing that Li Yu was actually affected by this edict and sinking into self-doubt, Chen Qiao below grew anxious and immediately said: "Sovereign, these are all trumped-up charges—a scheme by the Northern Han to sow discord among our people. Do not take them seriously. Please issue orders at once for the officials and troops along the river to confiscate and destroy these cylinders wherever they are found!"

Yet Li Yu could not help but furrow his brow slightly, looking somewhat pained. He was thinking that the things described in this edict seemed to fit him all too well...

Still, Chen Qiao's words ultimately had some effect. Coming back to his senses, Li Yu asked: "Is the court truly going to send troops to attack and extinguish our state? Is war truly unavoidable?"

Clearly, this sovereign of Jiangnan, Li Yu, still harbored some illusions in his heart, though he himself knew full well that they were only illusions. Xu Xuan, as chancellor, spoke up. His refined, scholarly face was now shrouded in gloom, and his tone was heavy: "Sovereign, the northern army's southern campaign is already unavoidable. We can no longer harbor any hopes of luck. The plan for now is to think of strategies to face the enemy and devise measures of defense—otherwise, the fall of the state and the destruction of the ancestral temples are right before our eyes!"

Hmm, Chancellor Xu had spoken at length, but nothing of substance had been offered. Still, one had to admit this was an informed view and reflected the actual situation. Feng Yanlu sighed and also delivered some bad news: "Sovereign, word has come from Runzhou—the northern army is massing in force to the south, arrayed on the northern bank. Clearly, they are about to move!"

"Does the Bureau of Military Affairs have any defensive strategy?" Seeing Feng Yanlu speak, Li Yu immediately asked.

"Previously, we have already mobilized land and naval forces to reinforce Jingkou, and other passes have also been arranged. The northern army will not find it easy to cross the Yangtze!" Feng Yanlu said, though with little confidence.

"The court sends three hundred thousand troops south—can we hold them back?" Li Yu was not a stupid man; he could hear the lack of conviction in Feng Yanlu's voice. He smiled bitterly and murmured.

His demeanor drew considerable displeasure from Chen Qiao. Stepping forward, he raised his voice: "Sovereign, the northern army comes with the certain intent to destroy our state. The three generations of the Li clan's foundation hang by a thread. At a time like this, you must rouse your spirits, harmonize the civil and military officials, deploy troops and dispatch generals to resist the enemy. Though the northern army is numerous, we still have two hundred thousand troops and millions of people. If we can unite as one, we may yet repel the enemy and preserve the state!"

Chen Qiao's words were the words of a bookish scholar, and his agitated manner was even somewhat rude. It was because he was a civil official with a loyal and public-spirited heart that Li Yu could tolerate him—if military men like Lin Renzhao had dared to speak to him that way, he would likely have resorted to punishment.

Striving to steady himself, Li Yu asked Chen Qiao: "Do you have a strategy to repel the enemy?"

At the question, Chen Qiao said directly: "Our elite troops are mostly concentrated at Runzhou, and the northern army is also gathering at Yangzhou. Lin Renzhao of the Zhenhai Army has the makings of a great general. As long as he can hold the northern army at Jingkou, the other places need only hold firm in defense. Additionally, I suggest the court continue conscripting able-bodied young men for training, especially strengthening the military forces at Jinling!"

Hmm, Chen Qiao's strategy, put bluntly, was to leave it to Lin Renzhao and the other generals, and in the meantime grab some conscripts to expand the army and put up a bit of a show of strength...

To this, Li Yu also expressed agreement—besides this, he could not think of any other way.

However, turning his gaze to Zhong Mo, who had remained silent all along, Li Yu took the initiative to speak: "Minister Zhong, with the state in such peril, what proposals do you have?"

During this period, Zhong Mo had noticeably reduced his political activities and no longer made any statements in court. He was a clever man—if the imperial army came south and the two states went to war, and he kept clamoring for surrender, he feared he would incur the masses' wrath and lose his life. Especially with radicals like Chen Qiao around—when it truly came down to it, it could be very dangerous.

Over the years, Zhong Mo's reputation in the Jinling court could be described as half praise and half blame. On one hand, he was a core figure of the surrender faction, but at the same time, Zhong Mo had genuinely proposed many systems and strategies beneficial to the people and governance—they just had never been adopted.

Li Yu had not been deaf to his reputation. Upright ministers like Chen Qiao had more than once submitted memorials attacking Zhong Mo, calling him treacherous at heart, and so Li Yu was also wary of him. Of course, because Zhong Mo had earlier openly supported his succession and championed him, Li Yu also harbored a measure of gratitude toward him.

Under this contradictory psychology, Zhong Mo continued to serve as a high official in Jinling. Now, facing Li Yu's inquiry, Zhong Mo thought for a moment and said: "I am but a mere scholar, unversed in military matters. If war is truly unavoidable, I have no real solution. However, if we could hold our defenses on one hand while sending an envoy to the Eastern Capital to plead our sincere circumstances, perhaps by dragging out time or delaying the war, the court might see that the southern pacification cannot succeed and voluntarily withdraw its troops?"

Zhong Mo had ultimately offered an extremely unreliable suggestion, to which Chen Qiao immediately sneered: "The Northern Han has never feared protracted warfare in its campaigns. The northern army comes to sweep away all the states and unify the realm. Does Minister Zhong think it not laughable to try to talk the enemy into retreating with envoys?"

Facing Chen Qiao's mockery, Zhong Mo merely said calmly: "It might be worth a try!"

To this, unexpectedly, Li Yu also expressed approval—but then, who should be sent?