Chapter 590: Appointing a Commander

After Li You withdrew, the First Emperor dismissed all his close attendants and began reading through the memorials from the commandery governors and commandants across the realm.

Fusu had been ordered confined to his residence. Over these past few years, he had indeed changed somewhat, placing more weight on practical matters and less on empty discourse.

But in the First Emperor's eyes, if Fusu were a remonstrating minister or an Imperial Secretary, he would undoubtedly be competent. Yet as a prince, especially the eldest prince, he was utterly unqualified!

Wholesale rejection of the First Emperor's proposals was one thing, but what angered the Emperor even more was that, aside from opposition, Fusu had not a single insightful idea of his own.

The affairs of this world are tangled and complex; mere opposition simply will not do.

Thus the First Emperor concluded that Fusu not only failed to accomplish anything, but also lacked the ability to judge men — he had completely misread Heifu...

Regarding the southern expedition against the Hundred Yue, Heifu not only voiced no opposition, but lavishly praised the policy as "a deed of merit for the present age, a benefit for a thousand autumns."

The First Emperor threw the memorial down on the spot for Fusu to read, stunning the naive prince into gaping disbelief, unable to accept that this was real.

Though he knew it was flattery, the Emperor still found it pleasing to hear. And besides, this was the correct attitude for a subject — words pleasant to the ear, and deeds that get things done, infinitely better than the bitter, resentful, die-hard remonstrators.

As for Fusu's grating counsel, he simply pretended not to have heard it.

As early as his time in Yuzhang and Changsha, the First Emperor had already determined that the southern expedition must be carried out! War was certain; what remained was the question of how to fight it, and whom to send...

In his memorial, Heifu had proposed a complete strategy: spend two years preparing, then another two years, from east to west, from the coast to the interior, slowly grinding the Hundred Yue lands down. It was indeed a seasoned and prudent view.

But to the First Emperor, it was still too slow.

With foes as strong as the Xiongnu and the Yuezhi, who could field a hundred thousand mounted archers, the Qin armies had annihilated them in no more than four years, start to finish! How much more so the Hundred Yue, small and weak, divided and fractured? Even if the southern routes could not compare to those within the Passes, what the First Emperor had seen with his own eyes in Yuzhang and Changsha was sufficient for marching armies. Why then should it take four years?

It was at this moment that Li You, who had served five years as an official in Changsha Commandery, offered a different opinion.

"When I was in Changsha, I dispatched no small number of merchants into Yue territory to spy. Just as Heifu says, the Yue tribes slaughter each other incessantly. There are many tribes, like the Eastern Ou, that could be subdued with a mere proclamation!"

Li You even ventured: The world believes Heifu understands the south, yet little do they know that Heifu's knowledge of the south is already outdated...

"Your Majesty, although Heifu campaigned in Yuzhang and founded Nanchang, it was no more than a year in total. Afterward, he left the south to hold office in the Northern Lands and Jiaodong. Now seven or eight years have passed. Times change and circumstances shift; Heifu can no longer fully grasp the changing situation in the south. The strategy he proposed is therefore somewhat timid, overestimating the Hundred Yue and underestimating the Great Qin's strength."

Was Heifu the only man under heaven who understood the southern situation?

The governors and commandants of Kuaiji, Yuzhang, and Changsha have been in the south for seven or eight years as well. Could their familiarity with the Hundred Yue possibly be inferior to Heifu's?

"Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; heed only one side and you will be left in the dark. Your Majesty, why not ask the governors and commandants of the three commanderies what strategies they have?"

Li You did not recommend himself — he had no desire to return to the south — nor did he directly recommend anyone else; that would be courting death. Only the Emperor alone had the authority to judge right from wrong and to appoint generals and commanders! No one could do it in his stead!

But as it happened, these frontier commandery governors and commandants were all, to a man, of the war faction.

And among them, one man's seniority and familiarity with the south could match Heifu's; in river and marsh warfare, he even had more experience than Heifu...

In the matter of appointing a commander, Heifu, though excellent, was not the sole choice!

With this in mind, the First Emperor unrolled the memorial sent by Tu Sui, Governor of Changsha Commandery.

It had just arrived by courier station. Because the Emperor had instructed that any memorials from Heifu or Tu Sui be brought for his perusal the moment they arrived, the Imperial Secretary's office had not dared delay a moment and had delivered it to the palace overnight.

Tu Sui, the former Tower Ship General, had been enfeoffed with the rank of Left Geng for his merits in aiding Wang Jian to destroy Chu and conquer Jiangdong. Later, as Commandant of Changsha, he assisted in quelling a rebellion in Dongting Commandery and was promoted to Middle Geng. After Li You returned to the Central Plains, Tu Sui succeeded him as Governor, managing Changsha Commandery in perfect order. Last year, when the First Emperor performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices and bestowed grand rewards upon his ministers, Tu Sui was raised to Right Geng. His rank was not high, but his ability was far from lacking.

On this southern tour, the First Emperor had also passed through Changsha Commandery and was deeply impressed by this Governor Tu. Though a governor, he had not abandoned his old trade and was thoroughly versed in military affairs, which was why the Changsha naval forces were no less formidable than those of Jiaodong.

After the idea of a southern expedition arose, Heifu, Li You, and Tu Sui were the three men from whom the First Emperor wished to solicit opinions.

Heifu's grasp of the larger picture was relatively better. Li You, married to a princess, was a kinsman-minister. Tu Sui had long garrisoned the southern Yi and Yue lands; when it came to familiarity with the Hundred Yue, even Heifu might not surpass him.

Reading for a while, the First Emperor broke into a smile.

"As expected, good ministers see eye to eye."

Though his words were not as pleasing or interesting as Heifu's, and his grasp of the larger picture somewhat inferior, Tu Sui, like Heifu, also noted that the Hundred Yue would not be easy to conquer, with countless difficulties in climate and transport. And in his proposed solution, he likewise advocated building relay roads while sending merchants deep into Yue territory to sow discord and buy over the various tribes, making them serve Qin's purposes.

But beyond this point, the two men's plans diverged dramatically.

Heifu believed they should proceed from east to west, advancing by water and land simultaneously, conquering the Eastern Ou, Minyue, and Nanyue one by one, consolidating each before attacking the Western Ou, which had the most mountain forests and was the strongest. This was the Duke of Zhou's strategy during his eastern campaign: "The great are hard to attack, the small easy to subdue; better to subdue the many small to coerce the great."

Tu Sui, however, held that if they were to attack the Hundred Yue, they must begin with the Western Ou! To start with the weak and then move to the strong would instead cause the remnants of the various Yue to flee to the Western Ou, swelling its strength day by day.

"Among all the Hundred Yue tribes, the Western Ou are the strongest and most numerous. They border Changsha and Dongting commanderies, and their lord is arrogant, often treating Qin envoys with contempt. The Yue people in those two commanderies look to the Western Ou as their secret support, rebelling and submitting unpredictably. Therefore, I believe that to break the Hundred Yue, we must first annihilate their largest, to overawe and compel the submission of the many small!"

In Tu Sui's view, vast as the Hundred Yue were, only the Western Ou, that thorn in their side, had the capacity to resist the Qin armies. Once they concentrated their forces and utterly destroyed the Western Ou, the remaining Yue tribes could be subdued with a single proclamation. Even if some refused to submit, they could be easily wiped out by troops dispatched from Yuzhang and Kuaiji.

"Five armies may be deployed, each thirty thousand strong, with another thirty thousand conscript laborers as rear support. One army to block the pass at Tancheng Ridge, one army to guard the fortress at Jiuyi, one army stationed south of Kuaiji, one army to hold the border at Nanye, and one army to assemble on the Yugan River..."

Thus Tu Sui's plan: half a year to repair roads and stockpile provisions and fodder. Half a year to muster the troops, assembling two armies in Changsha, two in Yuzhang, and one in Kuaiji, then advancing on all fronts — spending half a year to destroy the Western Ou, and another half year to sweep directly across the entire Hundred Yue!

The total time required would be no more than two years...

In the First Emperor's eyes, Tu Sui's plan was also detailed and thorough, but in the time it required, it was far closer to his own expectations!

"In their insights on the southern expedition, these two men are evenly matched..."

For a moment, the First Emperor found himself in a quandary over the appointment of a commander.

He had great confidence in Heifu's handling of affairs. Whether expanding westward or suppressing rebellions, Heifu had always done things cleanly and efficiently, both fast and well. But this time, for some unknown reason, his courage had suddenly shrunk. Could it truly be as Li You said — that having been away from the south too long, Heifu's understanding of the Hundred Yue was still stuck at seven or eight years ago? That he had only heard of the rapid changes in Changsha and Yuzhang, but could not fully grasp them?

The lamplight flickered. The First Emperor faced a choice: who should be appointed commander-in-chief for this war?

Though the First Emperor would not employ a man he distrusted and would select his commander with meticulous care, once the choice was made, he would not lightly interfere in how that commander waged war.

Therefore, whoever was made commander would, in essence, have his strategy adopted — and the offensive strategies of these two men were diametrically opposed.

"Continue to trust Heifu, or give Tu Sui a chance?"

As he pondered this, the First Emperor's hand never stopped, continuing to leaf through Tu Sui's memorial. Reaching the end, a piece of news made him furrow his brow.

This must have happened the previous month.

"In Cangwu County of Changsha Commandery, a Yue chieftain, incited by Yixu Song, Lord of the Western Ou, has dared to rebel?"

(End of Chapter)