Chapter 589

Broad Han

Broad Han lies within the sphere of influence of Wei Tinghou's Southwest Army; for many years it has relied on the Southwest Army's protection to avoid harassment by the Western Qiang.

Changli took Broad Han without much effort; the Broad Han King nominally had three thousand palace guards, but when the Snow Cavalry moved into Broad Han, they offered no resistance. Yet when Changli produced the King's order, commanding the Broad Han King to bring his family to Perpetual Peace to avoid disaster, he refused.

Isn't this just taking back his fief?!

"I have always diligently guarded Broad Han, obeyed the imperial edicts, educated the people, and properly administered my fief; the Northern Border King has no authority to abolish my fief!" The Broad Han King and the King share a grandfather; speaking thus, his words are firmer than those of the Clear River King, whose blood relation is already distant.

Changli's attitude remained good: "Your Highness never said to abolish the kingship. The Broad Han King is to retain his title and return to the capital; you are still the Broad Han King. This is merely for the current stage of the Great Jin's unification strategy; details are inconvenient to elaborate."

Believing the Broad Han King? No matter how you look at it, it's a trick to lure him back and kill him.

He stubbornly shut down the Guanghan Prince's mansion, refused to surrender his fief and return to Chang'an; seeing this, Changli also gave face to the Great King's elder brother, granting him an extra three days to consider and pack his belongings.

During that period the Snow Cavalry forcefully took over Guanghan's military affairs; when the time came they were no longer polite, forcibly ordering the Guanghan Prince to set off.

Changli had no choice; Guanghan was feudal lord's land, i. e., it had an owner. Either kill the Guanghan Prince, or remove him and take over military and civil affairs to achieve actual de‑fiefdom; the feudal land system with an owner would not recognize it. Without actually occupying it, the Great King couldn't obtain the full topographic map, nor could he connect with Changzhou.

Changli was never a soft‑hearted person; when the time came he ordered people to forcibly drag the Guanghan Prince out and put him on a carriage, promising afterward to pack up all the Guanghan Prince's mansion's belongings and send them to Chang'an.

The Guanghan Prince was forcibly shoved onto the carriage, wailing loudly all the way, letting the passersby hear him clearly.

Changli, upon hearing, didn't know how to evaluate it; he was shaking his head when he received a report that something had happened.

When the Guanghan Prince's procession passed the city gate, he requested to climb the city wall again to take one last look at Guanghan City, which was about to become his former homeland.

His ancestors had come to this fief; the mausoleum of the first‑generation Guanghan Prince was also located here. The order given to the Snow Cavalry accompanying him was that as long as he willingly returned honestly to Chang'an, any reasonable request would be fulfilled as much as possible; the leader, hearing this request, thought it not excessive and agreed.

Who would have thought that after the Guanghan Prince climbed onto the city wall, he would leap straight down from it!

Changli, hearing this, was momentarily stunned; he hadn't expected the Guanghan Prince to have such a fierce temperament. Immediately his expression turned grim—earlier, the Prince had wailed all the way through the city, making everyone know of it; now truly letting him die for the state meant letting him trample on the Great King's reputation to achieve his own fame.

"The Guanghan Prince cannot die."

He immediately mounted his horse and rode out of the city; seeing that his subordinates had already given the Guanghan Prince a golden wound medicine and he was still alive, he at once gave him an additional trauma‑healing pill of higher grade than what the Snow Cavalry had.

Changli, in front of the Guanghan Prince's family and the Guanghan populace, loudly rebuked Guanghan Prince Bai Li Xun.

"The Northern Border King didn't let you die—even King Yama couldn't! Guanghan Prince, if you still acknowledge yourself as a descendant of the Bai Li clan, you should contribute your share to the myriad‑wounded Great Jin, instead of exhausting your schemes here to drag behind the great cause of unification!"

The Guanghan Prince jumped from the city wall, and now it seems… nothing happened to him? He's still just a youthful heir; the dramatic rise and fall left everyone dazed.

The Guanghan Prince recovered and continued to wail loudly, mourning his fief and the royal tombs left in Guanghan—truly an oddball. Meanwhile the populace confirmed that he really couldn't die. Look, his wailing is full of vigor!

"Continue escorting His Highness the Guanghan Prince back to Chang'an!"

After issuing the order, Changli also told the populace: "Starting today, Guanghan will be taken over by the Northern Border King; for easier governance in troubled times, effective immediately it will be merged with Wudu into Changzhou. The new Changzhou Governor will be Wei Tinghou, commander of the Southwest Army; from now on, the Guanghan populace will be protected by the Northern Border and Southwest Armies—this is a good thing!"

"The Northern Border King's Highness once took Shangdang Qiang with four hundred cavalry; Shangdang Qiang has now been renamed Qingyu Commandery and comes under Northern Border rule. You all don't know how chaotic the outside has become, but with the Northern Border and Southwest Armies, Guanghan can be spared the scourge of internal war and the external harassment of the Western Qiang."

"After seeing off His Highness the Guanghan Prince, you may go; seeing off a friend a thousand miles necessitates one farewell. His Highness is merely returning to the safer Chang'an to avoid disaster; his title remains, so there's nothing to worry about."

The populace, hearing this, began to move, retreating back into the city under the gaze of the Snow Cavalry.

The Guanghan Prince was thus forcibly sent away; while the Snow Cavalry was present, there were no rumors in the city speaking ill of the Great King. Changli also couldn't spare much attention; the Snow Cavalry continued south along the southwest border, and he went nonstop to Changzhou.

Changzhou was Wei Tinghou's turf; although it also had a proper commandery office, its actual status was far weaker than the Wei family that held the Southwest Army, and for years it had been under Wei family control. Changli brought the Great King's handwritten order; Wei Tinghou directly assumed the post of new Changzhou Governor. There was no need for Changli to worry—Wei Tinghou had already begun a household registration census, and his great‑grandson had earlier sent a letter.

Before the Snow Cavalry could withdraw from Changzhou, the Great King contacted Changli through the family estate network.

Without a word, the Great King handed Changli some masks and alcohol‑based medicines, plus some grain newly exchanged from the white poplar.

The Great King wanted him to go meet the refugees fleeing Liangtang. By the time the court's disaster relief personnel arrived, even the cold dishes would have cooled; if there really was an epidemic, it would already have spread.

Liangtang Commandery lies west of Guanghan; starting from Guanghan, passing Fudu and Peishui brings you to Liangtang. The distance from Liangtang to Chang'an is actually not much different from that from Luoyang to Chang'an, which also shows that the Wang of Jing has been expanding quite a bit these years.

The Great King wrote a handwritten letter for Changli to deliver to his maternal grandfather; even if the Snow Cavalry were formidable, they only have three thousand horsemen, and he feared that if they went deep into the heart of Hanzhong they'd be ambushed by Old Four. The Great King is stationed at the East Great Camp, his mind not letting up at all.

Wei Tinghou read the letter: "Your Highness says where are the disaster relief supplies? I will personally take charge of transport, and also bring a few doctors from Changzhou. As for the Snow Cavalry… take along three divisions of our Southwest Army, and I will also contribute three thousand elite troops; let's seize this opportunity to take Fudu and Peishui in one fell swoop!"

Changli readily agreed: "Exactly what I had in mind!" Wei Tinghou sending someone to accompany them would be best; the Snow Cavalry is one of the Great King's trump cards, impossible to station locally, so afterward the Southwest Army will still need to garrison and handle the aftermath.

"As for the supplies, Your Highness said they have already been secretly sent to Peishui." When he arrives at Peishui and takes them out, it will be fine; along the way we also save on transport effort, allowing us to march with full speed.

Getting back to the point, the Great King never gave orders to attack Fudu and Peishui; I don't know whether he overlooked it or simply never thought of it. The Snow Cavalry's involvement constitutes private action. Changli, that old fox, and the Great King's maternal grandfather had already worked out all the details, making it seem as if he had just suddenly thought of this.

Regarding this, another old fox smiled and said: "No problem, I'll put this on my tab. Your Highness won't blame Commander Changli; if anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility." Thus Changli was satisfied.

After giving Wei Tinghou two days to prepare, once the provisions were ready, the Great King's maternal uncle Wei Peng and Changli led six thousand cavalry out from Changzhou, passing through Guanghan, and marched on to attack Fudu.

【Great King's Diary:

Chang'an, September 20, sunny.

Today I have already achieved two feats: scolding Liang He in front of two section chiefs, and speaking ill of the Eastern Capital Marquis in front of the soldiers of the neighboring section. Yet up to now, no one has exposed me, and no one has come to rally around me.

Conclusion: It's the Eastern Capital Marquis and his son who are incompetent.

I, the king, will continue to strive tomorrow~