Chapter 328: Born a Man, Dying in the Ditch

Qianzhou, which in later times would be Qian County in Shaanxi.

After Shi Jingtang established the Later Jin, in order to sever the connection between the Later Tang and the Great Tang, he hastily renamed the original Fengtian to Qianzhou, and the Western Capital Chang'an Prefecture to Jingzhao Prefecture.

But on the very day after Qianzhou was renamed, the rebel troops of the Zhangyi Army and the Jingnan Army arrived here.

At this time, An Shenqi, the Military Governor of the Jinchang Army who governed Qianzhou and Jingzhao Prefecture's Chang'an, had been forced to detour north of the Yellow River into Guanzhong because Zhang Congbin had seized Sishui Pass, and had only now reached Shanzhou, still several hundred li from Chang'an.

Without the Military Governor's urging and rewards, the several hundred Jinchang Army soldiers garrisoning Qianzhou simply looted the city themselves before the rebels attacked.

Then, carrying large quantities of gold, silver, and goods, they retreated toward Jingzhao Prefecture. The rebels therefore easily occupied the northwestern gateway to Jingzhao Prefecture's Chang'an, and this ancient capital of the Han and Tang fell into grave danger.

But Chang'an was not fated to perish, for just as the rebels entered Qianzhou, they received extremely unfavorable news.

The long-vanished Military Governor of Hexi had suddenly appeared. Someone claiming to be the Acting Minister of Works and Military Governor of Hexi, surnamed Zhang, was leading more than ten thousand Guiyi Army troops in a fierce assault on Weizhou.

Ah! This courier had left the city when Zhang Zhao and Garrison Commander Wang had agreed on a ten-day deadline. He had received instructions from Wang Zhenjiang and Captain Sun, and of course he was to describe Zhang Zhao's sitting in place as a fierce assault.

In the Qianzhou prefectural office, the faces of the rebel leaders in council twisted like twisted hemp ropes, especially that of He Chuan, the former Troop Commander of the Zhangyi Army's yabing guards.

The reason he had dared to launch this rebellion without fear was that he had set his sights on Weizhou's geographical advantages.

At this time, Weizhou lay at the westernmost edge of the Central Plains court's territory. Beyond Sanguan Pass were the Yuanzhou Tanguts, already so weakened they could not even defeat Weizhou's local militia, so there was no threat from the rear.

With such a secure logistical base, he had dared to advance eastward alone, straight for Chang'an.

But now, Hexi troops had appeared beyond Sanguan Pass, as many as ten thousand of them. That was trouble.

If he did not relieve Weizhou, Weizhou would certainly not hold. But if he turned the army back now to relieve it, then once An Shenqi arrived and mobilized the Jinchang Army to garrison Liquan or even retake Qianzhou, they could be bottled up in the Bin-Ning area and beaten like dogs behind a closed door.

If it came to that, this rebellion would be doomed to fail, because if He Chuan could not take Jingzhao Prefecture's Chang'an and join forces with Zhang Congbin in the Western Capital, Henan Prefecture (Luoyang), the population of Guanzhong could not possibly sustain them.

Moreover, He Chuan glanced at the assembled officers in the room. He knew very well that if they did not strike at Jingzhao Prefecture's Chang'an now, army morale would likely collapse immediately.

Because the only reason they had been able to band together was the attraction of He Chuan's plan to break into Jingzhao Prefecture.

As rebels, they naturally had no common ideals or convictions. Without the wealth of Chang'an, who would still risk their lives for him, He Chuan?

The courier sent by Captain Sun completely failed to notice the change in He Chuan's expression, and continued to embellish his plea.

"The Hexi Guiyi Army has more than ten thousand troops, and the Yuanzhou Tanguts have also gone over to them. There are only a few hundred garrison troops in the city and fewer than two thousand local militia. If the Troop Commander does not hurry back to relieve them, Weizhou will likely fall."

He Chuan pretended to think for a moment, then nodded, as if he had decided to return to relieve the city.

The courier was overjoyed. Captain Sun had promised that whoever brought back reinforcements would be rewarded with fifty strings of cash.

"On your way here, did you leak any military intelligence? How many couriers did Captain Sun send out, and why are you the only one to arrive?" He Chuan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Replying to the Troop Commander, Captain Sun sent out more than ten riders, but the Hexi troops also have roving cavalry outside the city. Their warhorses are powerful and swift, and most of the riders who left the city were captured or killed.

Only two of us broke through. Fire Chief Ma was killed by bandits when passing Binzhou, so only I reached Qianzhou.

I dared not leak any military intelligence, and so the moment I entered the city, I came to seek an audience with the Troop Commander."

The courier was rather pleased with himself. Out of more than ten riders who left the city, as long as he completed his mission, he reckoned it would count as a great achievement.

Troop Commander He and the others had looted Binzhou, Ningzhou, and Qianzhou, and must have stored up plenty of goods. Surely they would reward him as well.

He Chuan nodded with satisfaction. "You did well! You may withdraw..."

Before the words had finished, the courier felt a cold wind blow at the back of his head. Before he could react, everything went black before his eyes, and then a sharp pain shot through his back and chest.

The courier stared in disbelief at the blade tip protruding from his chest. His mouth opened, and a few threads of blood spilled out. He wanted to say something, but though he opened and closed his mouth, no sound came out.

"Sun Xiaoguo, take men yourself and intercept any couriers coming from Weizhou."

He Chuan said this to Sun Xiaoguo, who had just stabbed the courier to death. Sun Xiaoguo nodded, wiped his hengdao saber clean, and led his men out.

"Defense Commissioner Wu, please return and assemble the main army. We will rest for a few days, then strike straight at Jingzhao Prefecture!" After arranging Sun Xiaoguo's task, He Chuan turned to Defense Commissioner Wu and said.

This Defense Commissioner Wu was the Defense Commissioner of Binzhou, originally the right-hand man of An Shuqian, the Military Governor of the Jingnan Army in Bin and Ning. This time he too had joined He Chuan's rebellion.

He was a man of Guizhou, which in later times would be the Zhangjiakou area. When Shi Jingtang became the puppet emperor and ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun, Guizhou was one of those sixteen prefectures.

So Defense Commissioner Wu had now become a Khitan subject. His family's fate in Guizhou was unknown, and he had long hated Shi Jingtang to the bone.

He could not wait to march on Jingzhao Prefecture right now. After all, he had no kin in Guanzhong, and losing Weizhou was no concern of his.

Defense Commissioner Wu cupped his hands toward He Chuan. "Rest assured, Commander. My entire Jingnan Army has long envied the prosperity of Jingzhao Prefecture. We need only await your order, and we can take Chang'an!"

He Chuan laughed heartily. He now styled himself Commander, the leader of the two mutinous armies, the Zhangyi Army and the Jingnan Army.

Now the Jinchang Army held Chang'an but did not even have a Military Governor present, making it like an undefended city.

As long as he took Chang'an, then seized Huazhou, where the Military Governor of Zhenguo was based, and locked up Tong Pass, then whether Zhang Congbin succeeded or not, he could hold Guanzhong and make himself the King of Qin.

Just as He Chuan and the others decided to ignore Weizhou, take Chang'an first, defeat the Jinchang Army and plunder to their hearts' content, and then deal with the Hexi Guiyi Army,

Zhang Zhao also marched out from Weizhou, advancing east along the Jing River, preparing to take Binzhou first, then follow the river downstream for a decisive battle with the rebels.

And having obtained the court posts of Military Governor of Hexi and Concurrent Observation and Disposition Commissioner of the Four Prefectures of Shan, Lan, He, and Kuo, Zhang Zhao promoted himself another half-rank, styling the Four Prefectures Observation and Disposition Commissioner as the Military Governor of the Four Prefectures of Shan, Lan, He, and Kuo.

Before setting out from Weizhou, he first handed out offices generously, making Guo Tiance his trusted Secretary and Concurrent Adjutant of the Revenue and War Sections.

Yin Yaozi, who remained to guard Liangzhou, was made Vice Military Governor of Hexi and Concurrent Prefect of Lanzhou.

His elder brother-in-law Song Shantong was made Judicial Commissioner of the Hexi Military Governorship and Concurrent Prefect of Liangzhou.

Yan Jin was made Troop Commander of the Hexi Military Governorship's yabing guards and Concurrent Vice Commander of the Guiyi Army.

Cao Yanming was made Chief Clerk of the Hexi Military Governorship and Concurrent Adjutant of the Works Section.

Ma Shacai was made Prefect of Hezhou, Liu Zaisheng Prefect of Ganzhou, and Bai Congxin Defense Commissioner of Shanzhou.

The other officers also received rewards, and basically everyone became an official of the Central Plains court.

But at the same time, Zhang Zhao made no changes whatsoever to the officers' posts within the Guiyi Army. The military officers' concurrent posts as prefects and defense commissioners were merely nominal titles, not appointments requiring them to take office.

Zhang Zhao had prepared two sets of structures: in administration, the court offices took precedence, while in military affairs, the specific Guiyi Army posts took precedence.

After the rewards were distributed, Zhang Zhao left Li Ruoyu as acting Prefect of Weizhou, with one thousand troops to hold Weizhou.

This man was the elder brother of Li Ruoliu, the younger aunt from the Zhongyun Kingdom. He excelled at civil administration, while military affairs were not his strong suit.

If this elder brother-in-law proved trustworthy, Zhang Zhao planned to leave him behind, later using him to control Huizhou and Yuanzhou, which lay outside the scope of his official authority.

In addition, Zhang Zhao conscripted five hundred men from the great clans and local militia of Weizhou as soldiers, and requisitioned two thousand civilian laborers to accompany the march.

Wu Ying'er's younger brother Wu Guo'er and a group of other young men from the great clans of Weizhou were conscripted into his army, effectively as hostages.

At the same time, the great clans of Weizhou provided him with more than forty thousand shi of grain and fodder, and the confiscation of the Wang family yielded about thirty thousand shi more — enough to sustain the army for over two months.

The Guiyi Army had also brought (looted) more than ten thousand shi of military grain, plus cattle and sheep that served the same purpose, so provisions were amply prepared and would pose no real problem.

Even better, from Weizhou to Binzhou one could travel by water. The Jing River ran through the entire region, and thanks to improvements made during the Great Tang period, transporting grain was extremely convenient.

Zhang Zhao finally understood why armies in ancient times followed rivers, and why certain riverbank passes could not be bypassed but had to be taken by storm.

Because for grain transport alone, rivers were more than twice as fast as pure manpower or mule and horse transport, and they saved more than five times the cost in grain and labor.

The army marched southeast along the Jing River, and the first town they reached was Jingzhou — the later Jingchuan County in Gansu.

Jingzhou could be considered the heartland of Chinese civilization, but when Zhang Zhao arrived there, what he saw was devastation everywhere.

After He Chuan and the other Zhangyi Army yabing guards mutinied, Military Governor An Shuqian of the Jingyuan Circuit of the Jingnan Army led troops to suppress the rebellion, and it was outside the city of Jingzhou that he was seized by the Jingnan Army's yabing guards.

After the two bands of mutinous soldiers seized An Shuqian, they sacked the city of Jingzhou, then headed south to sack Binzhou.

Zhang Zhao stood at the west gate of Jingzhou. On the walls and on the ground, dark brown dried blood still remained, and what the wind carried was the thick stench of blood and rotting corpses.

Everywhere lay bodies already beginning to decompose — men and women, old and young. In fact, most were women and children, because the men were still useful to the mutinous troops: hauling grain, making camp and doing hard labor, serving as cannon fodder before battle and dying in the trenches.

"Yan Jin, go arrange the sentries. Bai Congxin, take a few hundred light cavalry and scout the surrounding area for survivors — best if you can find locals who know the terrain.

The rest of you, come with me. Cover your mouths and noses with white cloth, gather the bodies together, and burn them. Otherwise there will be plague."

The men of the Guiyi Army all knew Zhang Zhao's ways, and on hearing this they began making preparations.

The army physicians immediately set up cauldrons to boil medicinal decoctions. Once the decoction was ready, they soaked white cotton cloth in it for a while, then had the soldiers tie the cloth over their mouths and noses.

The soldiers who moved the bodies also wrapped their hands in animal-hide gloves or white cotton cloth to prevent infection.

Wu Guo'er stood frozen at the back, touching the headscarf on his head with some surprise. Only when he saw Zhang Zhao personally cover his own face with white cotton cloth and prepare to move corpses as well did a feeling he could not name rise in his heart.

Such an Acting Minister of Works and Military Governor was truly the first he had ever seen in his life.

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