Chapter 499: Taking Yangzhou with Ease

Once the decision to seek peace was spoken, Li Jing felt an immediate relief, as if a weight had been lifted from his heart. Seeing Han Xizai and the others still looking as though they wished to counsel further, Li Jing announced the dismissal of court first, turned and descended the steps, heading toward the inner palace—giving them no opportunity to speak.

Li Hongji, his face full of reluctance, followed after Li Jing to pay his respects. In the inner palace, Li Jing sat by the table, hastily drinking several mouthfuls of tea, looking utterly exhausted in both mind and body.

Li Hongji stepped forward and crouched at his side, grasping his father's hand, and asked urgently: "Father, are you truly going to seek peace with the Northern Han?"

"If not peace, then what else can be done?" Li Jing sighed with melancholy: "We cannot keep fighting. If we continue contending with the Northern Han, the Great Tang will be destroyed! Your father cannot let the foundations laid by the late emperor be ruined in my hands!"

"Huainan is also the late emperor's legacy—how can we allow the Han bandits to plunder it at will! Our court still has a hundred thousand troops; spanning the great river, we are fully capable of resisting them!" Li Hongji was somewhat agitated.

Seeing this, Li Jing raised his hand and gently stroked his eldest son's head, speaking softly: "Hongji, I know you harbor grand ambitions and fierce spirit, but the strength of the Han army is ultimately not something you can contend with. You must consider the greater picture. The situation north of the river has already deteriorated beyond recovery, but Jiangdong and Jiangxi must not have further problems.

Sending envoys to seek peace is an act of utter helplessness, for the continuation of the Great Tang's mandate. Yet the outcome still depends on the Han emperor's attitude. Before the envoys return south, the Great Tang must remain prepared.

The generals and ministers of the outer court are ultimately insufficient. I hereby appoint Prince Qi, Jingda, as commander, overseeing the Dangtu camp and the combined land and naval forces along the river, to consolidate the river defenses. You shall be his deputy—restrain your temper, assist your imperial uncle well, and ensure the safety of the river defenses.

If the Han emperor refuses peace, then the rolling Yangtze will be our greatest reliance!"

"Yes!" Meeting Li Jing's gaze, Li Hongji, however unwilling, nodded in acceptance of the order.

Among the Southern Tang's outer ministers, after leaving the palace, Feng Yansi caught up with Song Qiqiu and shared a carriage with him, asking: "Lord Song, what is your view on the matter of seeking peace?"

"What peace-seeking! It is nothing but surrender!" Song Qiqiu's eyes were slightly closed, his body swaying gently with the carriage's movement, and he said directly: "It is merely a strategy of drinking poison to quench thirst!"

Feng Yansi felt somewhat embarrassed, for he too had supported the peace talks. Guiltily averting his head, he looked out at the streets and alleys—a scene of utter desolation, of a hundred trades in decline—and sighed: "To cope with the Northern Han invasion, the court has exhausted its military strength, financial resources, and manpower. If we keep fighting, I fear civil unrest will arise!"

"Had they listened to me back then, they would not be wallowing in regret today!" Song Qiqiu said: "His Majesty's temperament is weak and timid; he hesitates and cannot decide when matters arise, doubts those he employs, and changes his decrees from morning to evening—how could he not fail? Just now in the full court, among all those exalted officials, only that Han Xizai remained unwavering and had some insight.

Can the Great Tang truly not fight any longer? After more than a decade of accumulation, is there not even a shred of strength left? In this old man's view, the Prince of Yan spoke well—you people have simply been frightened by the Han army!

Peace talks, heh heh—unless all fourteen prefectures north of the river are ceded entirely, how could the Han emperor withdraw his troops? With Huainan completely lost and only half of Jiangnan remaining, how can it be defended?"

Hearing Song Qiqiu's words, Feng Yansi's face shifted through shades of uncertainty, but facing this veteran meritorious elder, he dared not retort. After thinking it over, he sighed: "It seems Lord Song does not approve of the peace talks—why not offer your counsel to His Majesty?"

"Is there still room for me to speak in this court? Even if I offered counsel, would His Majesty listen?" Song Qiqiu's breathing quickened; he took two deep breaths before calming down, and said bitterly: "We followed the late emperor in founding this realm, intimidating the southern states—never did I imagine that in old age I would personally witness such an outcome. The sun is setting behind the western mountains, the sun is setting behind the western mountains..."

Song Qiqiu's sigh was faintly a lament for the Southern Tang's fading national fortune. The decline of the state's power was nearly irreversible, like falling into an abyss...

With national affairs in peril, unconsciously even the Southern Tang's factional strife had eased somewhat. Between the two factions, and within each faction, opinions were divided, with countless disagreements. One need only look at Feng Yansi and Song Qiqiu, or Sun Sheng and Han Xizai, to see it. Had the Southern Tang's mandate lasted a few more years, it would likely have transformed into a split between the war faction and the surrender faction.

At Swallow Rock, Sun Sheng was appointed Grand Minister of Works, bearing the state letter on a mission to Shouchun, to present it to the Han emperor Liu Chengyou and seek peace. Han Xizai personally came to see him off; the two fell into another argument, and as usual, their words did not meet, and they could not work together.

After Sun Sheng set off northward by boat with his mission, urgent news once again arrived from the north: after a three-month siege, Shouchun had finally fallen to the Han army. This once again shocked the Tang court—even the most foolish could see that with Shouchun taken, the Han army's southward advance faced no further obstacles.

As for Sizhou, a single beam cannot support a house; no one believed Guo Tingwei could hold it. And given the current emptiness of Huainan, it would inevitably fail to withstand the Han army's spearhead. Therefore, the Tang sovereign Li Jing became even more resolute in his determination to seek peace.

Yangzhou, Jiangdu City.

Since the time of Yang Wu, for roughly thirty years, this famed city of Huainan had not experienced war. Even during these months of the Han army's southern campaign, the fighting between the two sides had been confined to the prefectures and garrisons along the Huai River line.

Yet since the start of this spring, when the Southern Tang's great army marched north in force, in little more than half a month the situation had turned sharply for the worse, and the Han army swept in like wind rolling up scattered clouds. At this moment atop Jiangdu City's walls, the Tang banners had been broken, and what was raised anew were rows upon rows of Han banners.

Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Sirang joined forces, leading four thousand five hundred troops, speeding southward by boat, straight for Gaoyou. At dawn the next day, they launched a surprise attack on the Tang army; the newly defeated Tang troops were unprepared and were caught off guard.

The Han army was ferocious, and the Tang soldiers, having already lost all heart and morale, could not resist at all. Yao Feng directly abandoned his troops and fled, but was captured by his own subordinates, who presented him as a surrender to the Han army. And this time, the Tang navy did not manage to escape—they were blocked inside their naval stockade, and after a bout of assault and slaughter, all were taken prisoner by Zhao Kuangyin.

By this point in the fighting, the Tang troops in Huainan had basically lost all their will; facing the Han army, their resistance grew ever feebler. A rout collapses like a mountain topple, and so the Han army's victories came ever more easily, and their gains grew ever larger. After the Battle of Gaoyou, for Zhao Kuangyin, the greatest trouble was that there were too many prisoners...

After crushing Yao Feng's army at Gaoyou, Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Sirang rested briefly, then led only two thousand five hundred men south along the canal, flying Tang army banners, in a swift raid on Yangzhou.

Upon reaching Yangzhou, they entered the city without meeting resistance—it cost them almost no effort at all, and the entire city's soldiers and civilians alike fell into their hands.

By the canal's bank, atop Jiangdu City's walls, Zhao Kuangyin stood gazing southward, his eyes bloodshot, his expression weary, yet his bearing full of unrestrained ease—wishing he could let out a long cry or burst into wild, arrogant laughter.

"Commissioner!" Dang Jin came lumbering up the city wall, stopping at his side: "What are you looking at?"

At the question, Zhao Kuangyin raised his hand and pointed into the distance to the south, saying: "The canal flows into the river; cross the Yangtze and you reach the lands of Jiangdong. What a pity—our army's spearhead stops here, unable to complete the full achievement and destroy the Tang in one stroke. A true regret!"

Dang Jin did not think so much; for him, obeying military orders left and right was enough. At this moment he was all smiles, and reported: "The city is now fully under control. This city truly was empty—though these garrison troops were far too useless, surrendering without a single fight. I made some inquiries and found that most of Yangzhou's defenders had not fought a battle in over a decade. What a bunch of trash!"

"To take the whole city intact—even I did not expect that!" Zhao Kuangyin laughed along: "But now that the war has progressed to this point, have you felt that we are winning more and more smoothly, more and more easily? Do you know what that signifies?"

"What does it signify?" Dang Jin asked.

"The false Tang's army has lost its will, and its people's spirit has scattered. Facing our army's invasion, they are utterly powerless to resist. Our Han army can now formally annex Huainan!" Zhao Kuangyin said.

Dang Jin nodded, though in truth his mind was somewhat muddled and he had not fully grasped Zhao Kuangyin's words.

At this mention, Zhao Kuangyin thought of something and immediately gave the order: "Yangzhou is the wealthiest great prefecture of Huainan, with abundant products and countless riches. Among the soldiers below, there will inevitably be those who covet wealth at the sight of it. Pass the order down: all officers of every camp are to strictly restrain their men—no harassing the populace, no plundering money or goods. All government offices and treasuries are to be strictly guarded and must not suffer any loss.

Now that Yangzhou has fallen, every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, every tile here belongs to the state. It must be reported upward and await disposition by His Majesty and the court. No one may touch anything without authorization!"

That Zhao Kuangyin could speak such words showed that his ideological awareness was quite high—or perhaps his ambitions soared far and wide, so that even a city as wealthy as Yangzhou could not stir his heart.

As for Dang Jin, upon hearing this, he could not help muttering: "The brothers have fought and struggled to this point, through several bloody battles, before entering this great city. A little venting, grabbing some money and goods—that's understandable, isn't it!"