Chapter 282: The Performance Begins

Zhang Zhao had read Pei Yuan's so-called Eight Strategies for Pacifying Liang. Many of the ideas coincided with his own.

First was repairing the defenses of Liangzhou. Since the sixth year of Xiantong under Emperor Yizong of Tang, 865 AD, when it had been lightly renovated once, the city had been left to rot.

After the Wenmo unrest, the Guiyi Army's second entry into Liangzhou, and the vicious fighting between the Tianping Army of Yunzhou and the Wenmo,

the Liangzhou of today had only the eastern gate, Xuanwu Gate, and the northern gate, Tonghua Gate, with defenses still reasonably intact.

The western gate, Chongde Gate, had collapsed walls, and at the southern gate, Zhaowu Gate, even the gate tower and corner towers no longer existed. Repair work was imperative.

Moreover, repairing Liangzhou's defenses had two further benefits. First, it could display the new atmosphere under a new Military Governor. Second, it could use the opportunity of the repairs to mobilize the labor force around Liangzhou.

The Han people of Liangzhou in particular—Zhang Zhao was newly arrived, and if he wanted to touch the farmland around Liangzhou, several great clans would surely incite their tenant farmers and freeholders to oppose him.

But if Zhang Zhao first drew them away from the land and had them repair the city walls for a few months, they would come to know him better—know his attitude and his policies.

Then, when land reform was carried out afterward, the tenant farmers and freeholders at the bottom would not follow the great clans in making trouble. In this way, he would only have to deal with a few powerful houses, and the resistance would naturally dissolve by more than half.

The same applied to the Wenmo tribes south of Liangzhou. By conscripting them to come repair Liangzhou's defenses, Zhang Zhao's image could quickly penetrate deep among these people.

Of course, this conscription could not be the old kind of corvée labor service rendered to the government. Done that way, it would not be promoting understanding and integration—it would be making enemies.

To arrange this matter properly, Zhang Zhao specially summoned his eldest maternal uncle, Song Shantong. This was a true blood uncle, the full elder brother of Zhang Zhao's mother, Lady Song.

Song Shantong silently calculated for a moment, then shook his head at Zhang Zhao.

"Commander, if you want to conscript the Han people of Liangzhou and the Wenmo on such a large scale, repairing Liangzhou city alone will not be enough.

Although the southern and western gates of Liangzhou are dilapidated, their foundations still remain. To repair them would require only about three thousand men, and the work could be finished in twenty days."

That was indeed too few. Three thousand able-bodied men was a small base against the Han and Wenmo population of Liangzhou, which numbered over two hundred thousand. Zhang Zhao lowered his head and thought for a moment.

"Then repair the two county towns of Shenniao and Guzang as well. Also, outside Liangzhou city, the Five Forts, along with Chishui Army Fort and Xiutu City, should be rebuilt."

Shenniao and Guzang were the two most important county towns surrounding Liangzhou. The county seats of these two counties had originally been inside Liangzhou city—Shenniao's seat in the west, Guzang's in the east.

But that had been in the Great Tang period, when Liangzhou was firmly held by the imperial court.

By now, if Shenniao and Guzang still kept their county seats inside the city, the townships and villages under their jurisdiction would likely be nibbled away by the Wenmo.

Therefore, ever since Zhang Yichao first recovered Liangzhou, the county seats of Shenniao and Guzang had been placed outside the city, and walled county towns had been built to serve as satellite towns on Liangzhou's periphery.

As for Liangzhou city itself, it had long been divided into three parts, each managing its own affairs. When Sun Chao served as Acting Military Governor of Hexi and Prefect of Liangzhou, the Wenmo and Sogdians had answered summonses but not commands.

After Sun Chao was killed and Li Wenqian came to power, he could only manage the Han people of Liangzhou east of the city.

Likewise, the Five Forts of Liangzhou, the forts of the former Chishui Army, and Xiutu City were also components of Liangzhou's outer defense system—fortresses guarding Liangzhou.

Although long abandoned, Zhang Zhao himself had close to seven thousand troops after entering Liangzhou, and could fully restore these forts and garrison large forces there.

"But with repairs on such a scale, and with the Commander cherishing the people's strength and refusing to use corvée conscription, I fear it will cost more than two or three hundred thousand strings of cash."

Song Shantong said with deep feeling. The figure alone pained him to hear, yet his own nephew showed not the slightest reaction.

Zhang Zhao smiled faintly. Pained? Pain, his ass!

He was sitting on more than six million strings of gold and silver that he dared not release into the market, for fear of driving up prices. Now that there was a legitimate way to spend money, he could not have asked for more.

"Uncle, go ahead and handle it. Money is no issue. But the laborers' wages must not be given to the tribal chiefs and clan heads. They must be paid to each individual—a day's work, a day's pay.

The food must also be good. Three meals a day, every meal dry rice. And there must be one meal a day of white rice or white flour, and meat every two days without fail. As long as they can eat it, everything except the meat is unlimited."

Song Shantong sighed inwardly. One meal of fine grain a day, meat every two days—even ordinary wealthy households did not eat like this. He knew Zhang Zhao was buying hearts and minds, but still felt the terms were far too generous.

Just as Song Shantong left, Guo Tiance came clattering in through the door.

Seeing his personal male secretary looking so tense, Zhang Zhao immediately grew curious.

This Guo Tiance had always advocated remaining calm even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, and acted with great caution. What was wrong with him today?

"Commander, Acting Military Governor Li of Hexi has just taken his own life in the Military Governor's office!"

"What did you say? Li Wenqian killed himself?" Zhang Zhao was greatly startled, then looked at Guo Tiance suspiciously.

Li Wenqian had been perfectly fine. Zhang Zhao had even been prepared to let him go. How could he suddenly have killed himself? Could this kid have done it in secret?

Seeing Zhang Zhao looking at him with suspicion, Guo Tiance was scared out of his wits. He shook both hands violently.

"Commander, it had nothing to do with your servant! I met with him once as you instructed, and I also conveyed the offer of twenty thousand strings for his whole family to live on. Madam Li even knelt and kowtowed in the Commander's direction to give thanks."

Guo Tiance was actually still a little guilty. As Zhang Zhao's military adjutant and also in charge of the Revenue Office, Guo Tiance was a man of considerable reputation out in the world, and naturally would not be as cautious and timid as he was around Zhang Zhao.

When he went to deliver Zhang Zhao's orders, facing a drowned dog like Li Wenqian, he had naturally been somewhat swaggering, even sarcastic. He truly feared that Li Wenqian had been angered into suicide by him.

Zhang Zhao thought for a moment. He did not think Guo Tiance would dare to falsify orders, or even force Li Wenqian to kill himself.

What a pity! He had originally planned to use Li Wenqian to display his own boundless benevolence as Zhang Erlang, sparing Li Wenqian's life. But now the man was dead!

Ah! Zhang Zhao suddenly thought of an idea. He slammed his fist on the table and glared at Guo Tiance.

"Go! Hurry and come with me. What outrageous audacity!"

Guo Tiance truly thought Zhang Zhao had seen through everything, and his heart thumped with fright. He could only hurriedly arrange fine horses and guards, and the group galloped off in a trail of dust toward the Hexi Military Governor's office.

Outside the Hexi Military Governor's office, the local power brokers of Liangzhou had long since learned of the situation. But fearing they might anger Zhang Zhao, none of them had gone to look, and not even the Li family of Guzang had sent anyone.

They merely had their household servants watch the Kumarajiva Temple where Zhang Zhao was staying. The moment Zhang Zhao left, they immediately reported to their respective masters.

At once, the leaders of the three factions—the Sogdians, the Wenmo, and the Han people of Liangzhou—all began hurrying to the Military Governor's office.

"Acting Military Governor! Acting Military Governor Li! Elder Brother, why were you so unyielding? Though for the sake of the hundreds of thousands of lives in Liangzhou, I had no choice but to take up the post of Military Governor of Hexi, I never wished to harm your life, Elder Brother!"

By the time Liu Shaoyan, Cao Wantong, and the other Wenmo leaders in the city had all arrived, Zhang Zhao had long since begun wailing in front of the Military Governor's office.

The body of Li Wenqian, Acting Military Governor of Hexi, lay before Zhang Zhao, covered with a piece of Gaochang white cotton cloth. Zhang Zhao stood beside it, weeping and wailing in utter regret.

As he wept, he also held the hand of Li Wenqian's cousin, his grief-stricken appearance absolutely genuine and heartfelt.

"You dog slave! It must be that you did not make things clear! I promised my elder brother fifty thousand strings in goods and wealth to live out his remaining years in comfort. Why did you say only twenty thousand?

Was that not an insult? My elder brother, a dignified Acting Military Governor of Hexi, surely could not bear such humiliation from you, and so... Waaah!"

Seeing that the moment was about right, Zhang Zhao stood up and glared at Guo Tiance behind him. His expression was one of fury—hair bristling with rage, eyes wide and round, as if fire were about to shoot from them.

Guo Tiance froze on the spot. For a moment, he thought Zhang Zhao truly blamed him.

But immediately, this man—perhaps the person most familiar with Zhang Zhao—caught a different look in Commander Zhang's eyes.

A look he knew very well — one that only appeared on Zhang Zhao's face when he was putting on an act.

"The Commander is far too benevolent! Li Wenqian brought ruin to the people of Liangzhou, embezzled public fields, and oppressed the Wenmo tribes. Everything he gained was ill-gotten wealth. Leaving him twenty thousand strings is already the height of mercy!

Besides, the Commander is about to repair the walls of Liangzhou, and money will flow like water. Your own household isn't even worth fifty thousand strings. In my humble opinion, twenty thousand strings is already too much."

The moment Guo Tiance understood what Zhang Zhao intended, he immediately put on the look of a loyal minister, craned his neck, and shouted loudly.

Everyone around felt their hearts jump. This Li Wenqian had been plundering Liangzhou for four or five years, and all he had gained was no more than fifty or sixty thousand strings.

Commander Zhang not only spared his life, but even left Li Wenqian his wealth. That truly could be called benevolent.

This Li Wenqian had not been nearly so kind to his predecessor Sun Chao. He had not only killed every male in Sun Chao's family, but had also seized Sun Chao's concubines and daughters.

That was the norm in this age. Anyone removed from the Military Governor's seat basically had every man in his family killed, and the women left worse off than dead.

Someone like Zhang Zhao, who not only spared a man's life but also refused his wealth, could truly be called one of a kind.

"Commander! The villain Li is steeped in evil and deserves a violent death. This secretary did nothing wrong!"

Zhang Zhao was about to put on another performance when a woman suddenly darted out from the crowd — dressed in hemp mourning clothes, slightly undernourished, but rather delicately featured.

"How dare you!" The moment the woman rushed out, Man Xiong, who was guarding Zhang Zhao, roared and shielded him behind his body, then drew his hengdao saber with a sharp ring.

"Hold!" Zhang Zhao stretched out a hand and stopped Man Xiong, who was already lifting a leg thick as an elephant's to kick the woman.

"Who are you, woman? Why do you speak so?"

The woman let out a startled cry, clearly terrified by Man Xiong. She stumbled back several steps before dropping to her knees with a thud.

"Answering the Commander: my father was the former Acting Military Governor of Hexi and Prefect of Liangzhou, Lord Sun, taboo name Chao. The villain Li Wenqian murdered my father and my brothers and seized me by force. Heaven and man alike are outraged. I beg the Commander to give this slave justice!"

The woman knelt on the ground, sobbing as she spoke at length. Very well — Zhang Zhao now understood. This was actually the daughter of Sun Chao, the previous Acting Military Governor of Hexi.

After Li Wenqian killed Sun Chao, he had conveniently seized this woman as well. Moreover, this daughter of Sun Chao had been married before, and her husband's family was still around.

Zhang Zhao glanced to the side. A thin, tall man gazing at the woman with tear-filled eyes was none other than her original husband.

Huh. Zhang Zhao thought for a moment. Li Wenqian had fallen so low that not a single person came out to sympathize with him. Clearly, in Liangzhou, even the pigs despised him and the dogs had no love for him.

But Sun Chao seemed to be little better. His daughter had come out weeping and wailing for half the day, yet the surrounding crowd all wore blank expressions. If he had truly been a good man, wouldn't the people around have come out to wail a line or two on her behalf?

And then he thought further — when Li Wenqian killed Sun Chao, the people around had likely all participated to varying degrees, or at the very least silently acquiesced. With that thought, Zhang Zhao made up his mind.

"I have long been in Anxi. The Military Governors I saw there were all capable administrators, diligent in governance and devoted to pacifying the people. I never imagined the people of Liangzhou suffered such a bitter fate — two successive Acting Military Governors, neither a worthy lord.

But our Buddha is merciful. I, Zhang Zhao, as a Dharma King of the Buddhist faith, hold life dear. Since the money has already been promised, I will not take it back.

I grant five thousand strings to the daughter of Acting Military Governor Sun, that she and her husband may be reunited.

Acting Military Governor Li has already died, so he will not be pursued further. I also grant five thousand strings for the support of his aged mother and the continuation of his family line.

As for the remaining ten thousand strings, first invite the eminent monks of Dayun Temple to hold a Dharma assembly to release the departed souls. Whatever remains shall all be placed in the Military Governor's office accounts, to comfort widows, orphans, and the weak!"

"Excellent! Excellent! This humble monk will arrange the Dharma assembly at once. The silver need not come from these ten thousand strings — put it all into the Military Governor's office accounts!"

"The Commander's benevolence is something I have not seen in decades! These two families, Zhang and Li, are each given wealth, their livelihoods secure. Why do you not kowtow and thank the Commander for his great benevolence and righteousness?"

Liu Shaoyan sighed with deep emotion, while Cao Wantong's eyes gleamed. Who would not like a Military Governor and Commander who shunned greed and spoke of benevolence?

And he had so many armored soldiers besides — his capital for benevolence was more than sufficient.

Even the Wenmo chieftains in the distance watched Zhang Zhao thoughtfully, and some nodded gently.

All chapters have been cached for you. Download the APP to view.