Chapter 514: The Sword Pavilion Stands Lofty and Towering

It was the Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth month once more. Because he had "encountered obstruction from rebel bandits at Baishui Pass on the way to assume office," the newly appointed Governor of Yizhou, Tian Feng (courtesy name Yuanhao), after performing the sacrificial rites and reviewing the troops, formally issued a punitive expedition proclamation against Shu stamped with the seal of Duke Yan, just outside the city of Nanzheng in Hanzhong Commandery.

This proclamation, drafted by Wang Xiang, first acknowledged the legitimacy of Liu Yan's appointment as Governor of Yizhou by the Han court, but then immediately, in meticulous and subtle detail, invoked the story of Emperor Guangwu and Gongsun Shu, and proceeded to discuss the sensitive topic of the Mandate of Heaven.

After a lengthy discourse, the proclamation finally pointed out unequivocally that regardless of Liu Yan's administrative competence or the legal principles he inherited, under the manifest Mandate of Heaven, since Duke Yan, who represents that Mandate, had appointed a new Governor of Yizhou, the Liu father and son no longer possessed any qualification or legal basis to rule Yizhou. Therefore, the current act of resistance carried out in Liu Yan's name by the Baishui Pass defender Zhang Ren was, in substance, tantamount to rebellion.

Duke Yan had ample reason to dispatch troops to quell the rebels!

Once the proclamation was issued, General of the Champion Zhao Yun, who had been garrisoned in Hanzhong, personally led Deputy Generals Cheng Yin and Yang Feng, with Yang Xiu as Military Advisor and Fa Zheng as Army Major, directly commanding twenty thousand infantry and cavalry. They marched out of Yangping Pass and headed straight for Baishui Pass. Simultaneously, the Infantry Colonel Zhang He, who had just arrived there, joined forces with the local Hanzhong Commandant Shen Dan, Separate Division Major Shen Yi, and Separate Division Major Meng Da, combining their troops into a force of ten thousand. This force then split into two, marching out of Shangyong and into Ba Commandery, then proceeding southward along the two north-south flowing rivers of Ba Commandery—namely the Qianjiang and the Bucaojiang—serving as a diversionary force.

This was not all. On that very day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Gongsun Yue, who had been waiting for a long time at Chencang, also formally issued the order to march, in his capacity as General Who Guards the West, overseeing military affairs of the four western provinces.

Because of the standoff at Wuguan, the provinces of Yong and Liang had been entirely unable to participate in the earlier great battle at Guandu. Now, the campaign against Shu, erupting right on their doorstep, was precisely the right occasion for them to be used. In short order, Yong Province provided both grain and troops, while Liang Province provided troops—instantly mobilizing forty thousand infantry and cavalry!

The Yong Province troops marched out of Sanguan, while the Liang Province troops directly descended southward through Tianshui. They converged in a small basin in Wudu Commandery called Tazhong. In truth, this place originally had no name at all, but it had recently become renowned throughout the land because the General of the Household of All Purposes, Gongsun Ding, had brought the surrendered Qiang, Di, and Han Sui's former troops to open up military farms there.

The forty-thousand-strong army assembled and immediately marched south through Konghangu into the Guanghan Dependency of Yizhou. The Commandant of the Guanghan Dependency directly led the local garrison and the Qiang tribes to surrender en masse, handing over the Yinping Road without a fight.

And once Yinping was in hand, just as the Grand Administrator of Hanzhong, Guo Fengxiao, had previously speculated, the Yinping Road and Yangping Pass, one to the west and one to the east, formed a pincer attack. The first nail on the main path into Shu—namely Baishui County and Baishui Pass—was thus left with no way to block the advance. As Baishui County to the west surrendered, the defender of Baishui Pass, Zhang Ren, had no choice but to obey Yan Yan's order to voluntarily retreat, falling back to Jiameng behind him!

In effect, they handed over Baishui Pass on a silver platter.

At this point, the Yan army had suffered virtually no casualties. The General Who Guards the West, Gongsun Yue, upon reaching Tazhong, therefore did not activate the plan to "slip out of Yinping and secretly cross Motian Ridge," which would inevitably lead to heavy attrition. Instead, he proceeded methodically southward along the main road, closing in on Jiameng County, and then gathered the full strength of his army to deploy trebuchets for the siege.

And would you believe it, everything went smoothly!

The reason was simple: the Shu army garrisoned at Jiameng had absolutely no concept of trebuchets. Even outstanding commanders of Yan Yan and Zhang Ren's caliber only had an impression of trebuchets from historical records; they had no idea that this weapon, having been practically tested in the Battle of Guandu and standardized under the uniform weights and measures proposed by Lady Gongsun, had already undergone considerable development.

Whether it was Jiameng City or Jiameng Pass, Yan Yan had long since ordered all the large trees in the vicinity to be chopped down completely, never once thinking of trebuchets. He had not anticipated that the accompanying craftsmen in the Yan army had already begun skillfully constructing wheeled, disassemblable, and transportable "Thunderbolt Carts" back in Hanzhong!

After General of the Champion Zhao Yun arrived at Jiameng by sailing down the Western Han River, he lay low for over ten days, and then suddenly deployed over a dozen Thunderbolt Carts!

Under continuous, days-long indiscriminate bombardment, the walls of Jiameng City gradually began to give way. Yan Yan immediately made a decisive call and once again chose to abandon the pass and withdraw his troops.

In less than a month, the Yan army had broken through two famous passes on the Shu Road in succession, their morale soaring like a rainbow. But that was as far as it went, because right behind Jiameng City, on the other side of the Western Han River, lay the only route leading to the heartland of Shu and Physician City in Ba Commandery—a path called Jianmen Road.

At this very moment, the establishment of Jianmen Pass by a certain Chancellor Zhuge who wished to remain anonymous was likely still a dimension of time and space away, so this place was only called Jianmen Road.

However, the so-called Jianmen Road, as the name implies, has on its left and right flanks two mountain ranges: one with peaks as sharp as swords, called the Great Sword Mountain; the other, also with peaks as sharp as swords, called the Small Sword Mountain.

Between these two perilous peaks lies a narrow, winding mountain path and plank road, stretching for thirty li, artificially constructed along cliffs, precipices, hills, and steep slopes. This is precisely the famous Jianmen Road, or Sword Pavilion. And at the end of this thirty-li gallery road, in the middle of the Great Sword Mountain, there is a natural slot canyon, at its narrowest point a mere fifty or sixty paces wide!

"One man guards the pass, ten thousand cannot break through"—this saying refers to exactly this godforsaken place!

And what kind of veteran general was Yan Yan? How cautious was Zhang Ren?

As the two men withdrew their troops, they dismantled the thirty-li plank road completely as they retreated. After traversing these thirty li of gallery road, Yan Yan himself garrisoned at Fushui Pass behind them to serve as the main base, while ordering Zhang Ren to lead five thousand troops to build a camp with mountain rocks at the slot canyon on Great Sword Mountain, to resist the Yan army.

Now it was the Yan army's turn to be dumbfounded.

Truly, you have Thunderbolt Carts, I can dismantle plank roads. In such a place, how could one possibly force an attack? No wonder even a mere Liu Yan dared to resist Duke Yan, who had nearly conquered all the land, with just half a province!

Even someone as wise as Tian Feng and as brave as Zhao Yun could only be utterly helpless. The main Yan army in the center, numbering no less than sixty to seventy thousand, stretched all the way back to Tazhong in a winding line. Now they could only slowly repair the thirty-li plank road, inching forward hill by hill, while pinning their hopes on a surprise attack emerging from elsewhere.

However, almost simultaneously, Zhang He, Meng Da, and the Shen brothers were also thwarted in Ba Commandery. This was only to be expected; their entire route lay through Ba Commandery! And Ba Commandery was almost entirely mountain roads, their logistics were severely hampered, and their troop strength was limited. They were treated as a diversionary force with little hope from the start.

Now, having penetrated over a hundred li, they were trapped by the terrain and blocked on the road by the well-prepared defenders of Ba Commandery, who held their cities—entirely within expectations.

Under these circumstances, Tian Feng, the Governor of Yizhou, who had returned to Jiameng, racked his brains and was almost ready to write to Gongsun Yue, asking him to send a reserve force out of Yinping to secretly cross Motian Ridge. He hesitated only because of the inevitable attrition from such a covert crossing, unable to make up his mind for the moment.

It was now mid-sixth month. Just as the Yan army halted before Jianmen Road, the ruling center of Shu, Mianzhu City, saw new political waves stirred up by the formal arrival of the war against Shu. This, of course, was also within expectations.

"May I ask, Brother Ziqiao, what is the meaning of today's council meeting?"

Inside the Mianzhu residence of Zhang Su, the Grand Administrator of Qianwei Commandery, Xu Yuanzhi, who had only been in Shu for a few days, was exchanging intelligence with Zhang Su's younger brother, Zhang Song, at his temporary lodging.

In fact, the Zhang brothers, nominally the local leaders of Shu but suppressed to the point of having no voice and thus long dissatisfied with Liu Yan and his son, had already been in contact with the Yan state. Zhang Song himself, years ago before he took office, had even met Duke Yan's biological mother in Chang'an—the one long referred to by all as the Empress Dowager of Yan—and had been received with considerable courtesy.

Moreover, the Zhang family had long-standing traditional Shu brocade business dealings with the Anli Trading Company.

It was just that at that time, Liu Yan had also shown extreme deference to the north, and even Liu Yan's several sons had behaved meekly before Lady Gongsun and Gongsun Xun, so nothing was apparent. One could only say, it is when the tide goes out that you see where everyone's true foundations lie.

Of course, looking at it now, Zhang Su, far away in Qianwei, was actually a very timid person. He had agreed with his subordinate Yang Hong to rise in arms to coordinate with the Yan army's attack on Shu. In the end, Yang Hong did rise up, and Zhao Wei even led a large army into Qianwei to besiege Yang Hong. Yet Zhang Su, as the local Grand Administrator, who clearly could have staged a grand spectacle, actually held his troops back—truly disappointing. On the contrary, his younger brother Zhang Song (courtesy name Ziqiao), who remained in Mianzhu, was exceptionally devoted to the grand scheme of Yan and Shu.

How did he know this so clearly?

Simple: Zhang Song himself said it in his own words!

However, according to Xu Yuanzhi's observations, although Zhang Song was full of resentment, what he said was all true, and the reasons were obvious. Zhang Su, as the head of the family and already a two-thousand-bushel official of a commandery, though he also hated Liu Yan and feared Hebei, was ultimately unwilling to take risks lightly. Zhang Song, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. With his ugly appearance, if he just muddled along in Shu like this, no matter how brilliant his intellect, he would at best be a Provincial Attendant, the head of provincial clerks, and could never truly leap over the threshold between clerks and officials at the six-hundred-bushel rank to become a true high-ranking minister. But the Empress Dowager of Yan had long ago shown her appreciation and courtesy toward him. This was why Zhang Ziqiao so eagerly anticipated Liu Yan's downfall!

Returning to the matter at hand, since Xu Yuanzhi had asked, Zhang Ziqiao, being on the same boat, naturally smiled and directly explained the situation: "You are unaware, sir, today's excitement is nothing else but this: Duke Yan's great army has reached Jiameng at the front, causing momentary panic here, so some people are trying to fish in troubled waters. Do you know the Colonel of Agricultural Affairs, Pang Xi? This man actually suggested that Liu Yizhou retreat to Chengdu to take temporary refuge."

Xu Shu had only recently arrived here; how could he understand the intricacies involved? He couldn't help but furrow his brow: "I must ask Brother Ziqiao to explain clearly."

"In truth, once explained, the matter is really quite simple." Zhang Song couldn't help but stroke his beard and smile again from the Grand Commandant's chair opposite the desk. "As everyone knows, Liu Yizhou and his son have no rift between them; their harmony is extreme, truly admirable. However, even though father and son are one entity, they are ultimately two people, not to mention each has his own dependents. And this Pang Xi is the brother-in-law of Liu Yizhou's eldest son, Liu Fan, the Grand Administrator of Guanghan. In all matters, he must first consider the interests of Prefect Liu."

Xu Shu was already intelligent and had been tempered by much experience. Hearing these words and combining them with the situation in Shu, he instantly understood completely.

It must be said, Yizhou, the Land of Heaven's Abundance, was vast in territory. Hanzhong and Ba Commandery were both famously large commanderies, but speaking only of the core, essential region of Shu—the Chengdu Plain—it was divided into two first-rate, top-tier commanderies: Shu Commandery, governing Chengdu, and Guanghan Commandery, governing Mianzhu.

Among them, according to pre-chaos household registrations, the former should have over three hundred Battalion Commander, with a registered population of over one million three hundred thousand; the latter was much smaller, about one hundred forty Battalion Commander, with a population of nearly five hundred thousand.

However, due to the earlier rebellions of Ma Xiang and Jia Long/Ren Qi, the area around Chengdu suffered severe population losses. Correspondingly, Liu Yan brought in a large group of "Dongzhou Shi" (Eastern Province Gentry), numbering tens of thousands of households and hundreds of thousands of people, from Jingzhou, the Three Adjuncts, Sili, and even the Central Plains, and settled most of them in Guanghan Commandery.

With one decreasing and the other increasing, the populations of the two commanderies were now roughly equal, more or less on par. But combined, they were undoubtedly the fundamental core of the Liu father and son's rule over Shu.

According to the previous political design, Liu Yan himself governed Mianzhu, personally controlling Guanghan Commandery and the "Dongzhou Shi" who largely occupied this area. Then, Zhao Wei, Liu Yan's top trusted confidant of Dongzhou Shi origin, served as the Grand Administrator of Shu Commandery. So now, Pang Xi's suggestion that Liu Yan retreat to Chengdu was undoubtedly a brilliant move!

Because once Liu Yan left, Guanghan Commandery and the Dongzhou Shi, who were actually the foundation of the Liu father and son's rule, would fall under the personal control of Liu Fan, the Grand Administrator of Guanghan.

"Does Brother Ziqiao think Liu Junlang will agree?" After figuring out the intricacies, Xu Shu couldn't help but furrow his brow in response. The uncertainty of the assassination target would inevitably affect his plans.

"He will not." Zhang Song immediately gave his reply. "Judging from the frontline arrangements these past few days, though Liu Yan is old, he is not so senile. Even if his strength is failing and he harbors thoughts of transferring power, he would not choose this moment to do so. Not to mention other things, just take the Chengdu matter. Currently, Zhao Wei, the Grand Administrator of Shu Commandery, is leading troops in Qianwei besieging Major Yang. Zhang Ren, the subordinate Zhao Wei promoted, is also at the very front line. At this time, no matter which of them, father or son, goes to Chengdu, it will shake Zhao Wei's position. Therefore, Pang Xi's frantic maneuvering is all in vain."

Xu Shu nodded in agreement.

Before Xu Yuanzhi could continue his questions, Zhang Ziqiao proactively continued: "As for the matter you asked me to investigate, regarding the personal security of Liu Junlang and his son... though you have never stated it outright, I understand your intent. But forgive my bluntness, relying solely on your twenty men still seems far too difficult!"

"Please, speak your mind." Xu Yuanzhi was unperturbed.

"Ever since Liu Yan went out of the city for sacrifices last time and his carriage broke, he has been brooding and uneasy, basically never leaving the Governor's mansion. And his Governor's mansion was originally a new residence specially built in Mianzhu during Jia Long's rebellion, constructed together with a military camp inside the city. So, his staying indoors there is not just a matter of tight security; it is essentially like hiding inside a dedicated small citadel. And the military camp next to the mansion... heh... inside, apart from his thousand-odd precious carriages, it is filled entirely with soldiers of Dongzhou Shi origin."

Xu Shu fell into deep thought.

"As for his son, Prefect Liu..." Seeing the other man's silence, Zhang Song had originally intended to fall silent as well, but suddenly spoke up again, raising his eyebrows as he prepared to introduce Liu Fan's situation.

"If Liu Yan does not die, whatever Liu Fan does is meaningless." Xu Shu interrupted him. "Because although Liu Fan appears to hold great power, the most crucial frontline military authority has always been firmly in Liu Yan's grasp. Isn't that the implication of what Brother Ziqiao just said? Since Liu Yan's situation is so intractable at this moment, what benefit is there in discussing Prefect Liu further?"

Zhang Song gave an embarrassed laugh: "I had always thought you, sir, were merely an ordinary swordsman. Today, I see you have your own depths of strategic thinking."

"These past few days, Brother Ziqiao, you have repeatedly shifted your attitude because of my words..." Xu Yuanzhi shook his head for a moment. "But then, whether I am an ordinary swordsman or not — why should it matter to such an extent?"

Zhang Song awkwardly stroked his beard: "Merely curiosity... For a romantic figure such as yourself, why would you come to be an assassin?"

"I did not come to be an assassin. I came to be a knight-errant."

"...Is there a difference?"

"An assassin may act for private gain, or for private sentiment and personal debt. A knight-errant, however, relies on something else entirely..."

"What does he rely on?"

"The lesser knight-errant roots out the strong and aids the weak." Xu Shu looked down with a sidelong glance. "The greater knight-errant acts for the state and for the people... I came to kill Liu Yan because someone told me that if I did so, the realm could be at peace a single day sooner, and I believed him. That is all."

Zhang Song was stunned on the spot, nearly rising from his seat to bow in respect.

"One more question, Brother Ziqiao." Xu Yuanzhi paid no heed to the other's astonishment and continued speaking with composure. "There was a rumor before, that Liu Yan once grasped the hands of two of his sons and spoke an unbelievable remark..."

"That did happen." Zhang Song collected himself, his haughty manner completely gone, and hurriedly answered. "After Liu Yan dealt with his third son Liu Mao, who had urged him to surrender, he grasped the hands of his eldest and second sons and said, 'Everyone in Shu wishes to kill us, father and sons!' This was spread by a serving maid who was nearby, and now everyone knows of it!"

"Do the Dongzhou Shi also wish to kill him?" Xu Shu pressed on.

"What do you mean, sir?" Zhang Song felt an inexplicable panic in his heart.

"The matter is already quite clear." Xu Yuanzhi rose, hand on his sword, and spoke with eloquence in the chamber. "In the situation in Shu, the Liu father and sons appear equally important, but in truth the father holds real power while the sons are figureheads. And Liu Junlang, being old and cautious, relies solely on his sons; the local Shu people can hardly get close to him. Only the Dongzhou Shi can fill the outer circle... Therefore, to kill Liu Yan, one must seek the aid of the Dongzhou Shi."

"The Dongzhou Shi..." Zhang Song rose, wanting to speak but then hesitating.

"The Dongzhou Shi are already tottering on the brink." Xu Shu turned back and smiled faintly. "Even the Fei Shang brothers have surrendered, let alone others. On this point, Liu Junlang sees clearly enough — everyone in Shu wishes to kill him and his sons!"

"Even so, in such haste, how can one discern who has already turned away in their heart and who has not?" Zhang Song naturally still did not wish to let the Dongzhou Shi seize this merit.

"If what you just said, Brother Ziqiao, is true, then regardless of others, there must be one among them — a key figure of some ability — who has long since been confirmed to have turned away in his heart..."

"Who?" Zhang Song could not help but freeze on the spot. "When did I just now speak of anyone?"

"The Liu father and sons use the Dongzhou Shi to control Shu, so before every one of them stands a leading figure of the Dongzhou Shi." Xu Yuanzhi gazed at the bright sunlight in the courtyard outside the lodge and could not help but laugh. "Before Liu Yan, it is naturally Zhao Wei; before his son Liu Fan, it is naturally Pang Xi... Then may I ask, Brother Ziqiao, before Liu Mao — who was once regarded as the heir and is now imprisoned for urging his father and elder brother to surrender early — was there such a person in those days?"

Zhang Song's mouth went dry, and he was thoroughly convinced: "That man is called Wu Yi, the nephew of Wu Kuang, the trusted confidant of the late Grand General He Jin, and the elder brother of Liu Mao's wife. He had originally risen to the rank of Commandant of Agricultural Colonels, but was stripped of his post by Pang Xi and now lives in idleness outside the city."

Xu Shu turned back to face him, hand on his sword, and said nothing.

"I will escort you, Sir Xu, out of the city at once!" Zhang Ziqiao immediately understood and simply changed his form of address.

——————I am Ziqiao's younger brother, the dividing line——————

"The Grand Ancestor dispatched the General Who Guards the West, Gongsun Yue, and the Governor of Yizhou, Tian Feng, to attack Shu. They fought across a thousand li, halting only at Sword Pavilion. All hesitated. Feng observed Sword Pavilion and withdrew, pondering sending a surprise force over Motian Ridge. Before this could happen, a letter arrived from the Grand Administrator of Hanzhong, Guo Jia, which read: 'Yan governs Shu utterly without grace or virtue. Now that a great army presses upon him, he is certain to fall into chaos of his own accord. In my view, within ten days or a month the outcome may be clear. I ask that you wait a short while.' Feng read this and halted." — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Quick Perception

PS: People really are such interesting creatures... Last night, halfway through writing, I said I was too tired and wouldn't write anymore... Anyway, the book is almost finished, why push so hard? The three-days-two-updates schedule has long been a fact, so why pretend otherwise?

Then today, during my midday nap, the moment I closed my eyes, I kept dreaming that the seven-year-old A-Yue and those from humble backgrounds were mocking me in the group chat, calling me a trash who doesn't keep his word. I simply couldn't stand it, got up, and managed to finish a chapter before the end of the workday.

It seems I still have a bit of shame after all.

Happy National Day, everyone...

(End of Chapter)