Chapter 589: Timing, Terrain, and the Human Factor

In the first month of the thirty-third year of the First Emperor of Qin, Li You, Governor of Sanchuan Commandery, was granted leave by the emperor to return to Xianyang for ten days because his father Li Si's seventieth birthday was approaching. But he had just hurried back to the capital from Luoyang, and before he could exchange more than a few words with his father and siblings, the emperor summoned him to the palace.

Although Li You had married the First Emperor's eldest daughter and was thus an imperial relative by marriage, he did not dare in the slightest to regard the emperor as his "father-in-law." He observed every detail of protocol with rigid precision and kept a great distance between them.

Today the First Emperor summoned him alone. An usher brought an already opened memorial before Li You.

"Take a look."

Since the emperor told him to look, he could only look. When Li You opened it, the very first line read: "Your servant Heifu bows twice and speaks…"

The name was all too familiar. Li You raised his head and smiled. "Your Majesty, this is…"

"This is the Governor of Jiaodong's proposal on the southern expedition. What do you make of it?"

The First Emperor's voice betrayed neither pleasure nor anger. Li You could only hastily skim through the memorial.

Clearly, this was Heifu's reply to the emperor's order that all ministers debate "the southern expedition against the Hundred Yue." Come to think of it, Li You had also received the emperor's inquiry and had written a memorial to Xianyang, which had arrived even earlier than Heifu's.

After all, he had once conquered the E region, pacified Changsha and Cangwu, served for several years as Governor of Changsha Commandery, and even quelled a Yue rebellion in the neighboring Dongting Commandery. His familiarity with the south was no less than Heifu's.

On this matter, Li You undoubtedly had some standing to speak.

His father Li Si had hinted to him that the emperor's attitude was clear. Li You could hardly oppose the matter. In the end, among all the civil and military officials of the court, except for the Prince Fusu, who held a different opinion and argued that the south should not be attacked, everyone believed that the Hundred Yue could be attacked, and that the campaign would surely be victorious!

Heifu — this man who had once been Li You's subordinate but had now climbed higher and faster than him, who enjoyed even more of the emperor's trust than he, the son-in-law — Li You truly wanted to know how he would reply.

"If he voices opposition, I fear he will anger His Majesty…"

Knowing Heifu as he did, Li You was sure that this sly old fox, so deeply versed in the ways of officialdom, would certainly not be so foolish.

Sure enough, at the very start of the memorial, Heifu made his position clear.

"The governance of the Three Dynasties did not extend beyond the Nine Provinces, yet Your Majesty's far-sighted vision is not limited to the Nine Provinces. You have just crushed the Xiongnu and built the Great Wall in the north, and driven out the Yuezhi and established the Jade Gate in the west. Now you further desire to conquer the Hundred Yue and expand the southern frontiers. The south is vast and rich in resources; given time, it can add another province's worth of land to Qin. This is an achievement unparalleled since ancient times!"

"As the common proverb says, 'One generation plants the trees, the next enjoys the shade.' Plant mulberry and parasol trees, and your descendants will not know poverty. Therefore, your servant believes that the southern expedition is truly a deed that accomplishes merit in the present and yields benefit for posterity!"

After reading just this section, Li You was already cursing inwardly. This fellow was still so glib. His skill at flattery was something even he and his father could not hope to match. No wonder he had repeatedly been promoted by leaps and bounds, and now stood just one step away from being enfeoffed as a marquis.

In short, Heifu praised the First Emperor's strategy of conquering the Hundred Yue to the skies. However, unlike ordinary ministers, after a torrent of lavish praise, a turn came.

"However, if we wish to attack the Hundred Yue, our army faces three disadvantages…"

The first is the timing. The land of the Hundred Yue is hot and damp. The summer heat is absolutely unbearable for men from the Central Plains. There are many miasmic vapors, water parasites, snakes, insects, and venomous creatures. Exposed to the sun by day and the dew by night, epidemics frequently break out.

The second is the terrain. The border between Yue and the Central Plains is hemmed in by high mountains, sparsely traveled by man, and impassable for carts. In the interior, there are very few open plains or wildernesses; rivers, mountains, and forests abound. Paths appear and disappear. It is extremely difficult for a large army to advance. To plunge recklessly deep without knowing the dangerous terrain would lead to unimaginable consequences.

The third is the human factor. Unlike the conquest of the Six Kingdoms, the Yue people and the Qin people do not share a language. The Qin army would be fighting entirely in a foreign land among foreign peoples. Logistics are critically important. To send out two hundred thousand troops, three hundred thousand must be mobilized for transport. Moreover, the Yue people have almost no walled cities; they live among streams and valleys and in bamboo groves. They are adept at water warfare and accustomed to using boats, making it very easy for them to gather and disperse. Thus, the mode of warfare would change from assaulting cities and towns to protracted encirclement and suppression in the mountains and forests — something the Qin army, accustomed to pitched battles, is not skilled at.

"The art of war says: 'Timing, terrain, and the human factor — if these three are not obtained, even in victory there will be calamity.'"

In short, Heifu's opinion was that attacking the Hundred Yue was a good idea. It was not that it could not be done, only that it could not be done easily…

If it stopped there, it would still be a veiled attempt at dissuasion. How could the First Emperor fail to see that?

But at the very end, Heifu also appended his proposals for resolving these "three disadvantages."

First, this southern expedition would require several years of preparation to solve the problems of "timing, terrain, and the human factor" one by one.

As for timing, there was no particularly good solution; they could only make greater use of southern troops familiar with the water and accustomed to the heat. Since it could not be changed, they could only avoid the blazing summer. The campaigning season must be the opposite of that for the north. They absolutely must not march in spring, summer, or autumn, because that is the southern "rainy season." The rain forests would become a green graveyard. It would be best to advance in winter, which is the "dry season" in the Hundred Yue region.

As for terrain, a great deal of effort would have to be expended.

Heifu suggested immediately establishing an official merchant consortium controlled by the court, which could be called the "Southern Trading Company" or the "Hundred Yue Trading Company." It would centrally manage the merchants engaged in Qin-Yue trade and have them emulate the past exploits of Wu Shi Yan and Chen Ping, who entered Xiongnu territory to spy on enemy conditions. Using their merchant identities as cover, they would go south to the Five Ranges to investigate transportation and geography. The merchants would carry many fine goods of the Central Plains, such as silk and sugar, to bribe the chieftains great and small. Within one or two years, the true situation of the Hundred Yue could be known like the back of one's hand.

While gathering intelligence, the transportation routes in Yuzhang and Changsha needed to be improved. Heifu suggested extending the express road from Nan Commandery to Nanchang all the way to Limen Fortress. At the same time, in Cangwu County in Changsha, they should try to see if a canal could be dug. Only in this way could logistics be guaranteed.

After the terrain was sorted out, two years would have passed. On the human factor front, on one hand, the troops moving south should intensify training and get used to mountain and forest warfare. On the other hand, the trading caravans should be used to sow discord among the Hundred Yue tribes. Under no circumstances should they be allowed to unite…

"Your servant has heard from Ren Xiao, Commandant of Jiaodong, that although the Eastern Ou and Minyue are both descendants of Goujian, their ancestors bore grudges, and they have attacked each other for generations. The Eastern Ou are weak and the Minyue are strong, and they are often bullied. Your Majesty can send envoys to offer amnesty and induce the Eastern Ou to come to court as subjects, turning their land into commanderies and counties."

Once the roads and canals were all completed, while the land army was massed at Changsha and Yuzhang, Kuaiji would dispatch the fleet. With the Eastern Ou as support, they would first take Minyue. Then they would open the sea route from Kuaiji to Nanyue. In this way, after the land forces seized Nanyue, even if they were stationed there long-term, they could be supplied with food and clothing by sea, and would not end up as an isolated army…

The entire set of ideas was clearly thought out, thanks in large part to Xiao Tao, who had reported everything he saw and heard at Limen Fortress to Heifu in exhaustive detail.

Moreover, Heifu had gauged the First Emperor's mind and knew that with the emperor's impatient nature, he could not be made to wait too long. So he set the timeline for the military campaign at "two to four years."

Two years to improve transportation and gather intelligence, and to take the Eastern Ou. Three years to seize Minyue and pacify Nanyue. Four years to settle the Western Ou and the Luo Yue, fulfilling the First Emperor's dream of extending the southern frontier to the "Northern Door" region.

This was a relatively realistic plan, and probably the limit of what the First Emperor could tolerate, right?

After reading it, Li You closed the memorial, his feelings extremely complicated.

He had once led a great army across the Yangtze down to Changsha and seized the last territory of the Chu people.

He had also served as Governor of Changsha Commandery for a full five years and had repeatedly gone to inspect the Cangwu region adjacent to the Western Ou!

Yet when the First Emperor asked Li You for his views on the southern expedition, aside from wholeheartedly supporting it, the proposals Li You put forward were not nearly as detailed and solid as Heifu's.

Li You could see clearly that Heifu had laid out his strategy in such meticulous detail, and his intention was self-evident.

In any major campaign, there must be a commander-in-chief. In his memorial, Heifu did not use a single word to recommend himself; it was all about sharing the emperor's burdens and offering advice and strategies.

But in reality, the entire piece was a masterful self-recommendation!

After all, Heifu could not let go of his old subordinates in Yuzhang in the south. Since he knew the First Emperor was growing increasingly arrogant and stubborn, and that decisions once made were hard to change, the only option was to find a way to take on this task himself…

At the very least, if he were the general, fewer men would die, he could protect his old subordinates, and he might even turn a bad situation into a good one.

Brilliant. Truly brilliant!

So brilliant that even Li You, a man not particularly narrow-minded, felt a surge of jealousy and wariness…

"Li You, what do you make of Heifu's strategy?"

The First Emperor's voice rang out again, pulling Li You back from his contemplation.

He immediately bowed with clasped hands and said:

"Your servant believes… Commandery Governor Wei's strategy is truly the word of a seasoned statesman! I have never doubted his ability!"

Yes, after all, Li You had been Heifu's "Bole," the one who discovered his talent. It was true that Heifu had ability, but if not for Li You's favor and trust, and his repeated promotions, Heifu, who came from a commoner background, would not be where he was today, would he?

This was the awkward part. Many years ago, Heifu was merely a pawn under Li You's command. But now, Li You, in his forties, was only a Grand Superior, while Heifu, at thirty, had rocketed up to Grand Chief of the Masses!

It was not just that he had utterly outshone Li You in rank, reputation, and achievements. Last year in Linzi, Heifu had even dared to openly refute and debate his father, Li Si, right in court!

At that moment, the relationship between the two sides had completely ruptured!

The bond between a patron and the man he recommends is that of benefactor and beneficiary, second only to that of sovereign and subject.

In Li You's view, Heifu had undoubtedly betrayed him and his father. He had long forgotten how he himself had risen to the court, and now, together with Ye Teng, he had become a political enemy of the Li family!

Whether out of envy that his old subordinates might soon be enfeoffed as marquises, or out of worry over the swelling power of the Ye Teng–Heifu in-law faction, Li You would never sit idly by and let Heifu succeed so easily.

After first lavishing praise on Heifu, expressing his own admiration and appreciation for him, Li You then made a deep bow and said:

"But this subject believes that, though Heifu's vision is good, his courage is still too small, and the time it would take is far too long!"

PS: Chapter 2 at 11:30.

(End of chapter)