Chapter 329: The Wind of the Age Cannot Blow Away the Fog That Transcends the Age

Jingzhou City was not entirely without survivors, though of this town of seven or eight thousand, only five or six hundred remained in the end.

When Bai Congxin found them, these people were fleeing in all directions, carrying bundles large and small on their backs.

Bai Congxin had wanted to call them back, but these people, terrified by the mutinous soldiers, did not dare stop. In the end, Bai Congxin could only order his soldiers to seize them.

When Bai Congxin brought back this weeping, wailing crowd of Jingzhou commoners, Zhang Zhao knew there must still be survivors here.

For the northern part of Jingzhou City held few corpses, and signs of tidying and sweeping could be seen. These people must have chosen to flee the city after seeing a large force coming down the Jing River.

"Good sirs, have mercy! Let us go!"

"Were you not all born of parents? Have you not the slightest compassion?"

"What crime have we committed, to suffer this blade and war? Last month the mutinous soldiers swept through like a scourge, killing dozens of our closest kin and plundering every scrap of wealth, grain, and fodder. Now you come again — what is there left to take?"

Several hundred people were driven back by Bai Congxin. The moment they reached the north gate of Jingzhou, they burst into wailing.

Just outside the north gate flowed the gurgling waters of the Jing River, and these people thought Bai Congxin had dragged them back to kill them by the riverbank.

As for why kill them? Need one even ask? Naturally, to make dried meat of them. The riverside was convenient for washing, sparing the ground from filth.

Zhang Zhao did not rush to explain, for explaining now was surely less important than immediately clearing away the rotting corpses in Jingzhou City.

With the sixth-month heat rising day by day, if this was not handled now, a great plague might well begin to spread.

Zhang Zhao also looked at those commoners wailing and shouting. They had lived in this corpse-filled Jingzhou City for a month or two, and might well already be infected with disease.

Han Qiniangzi was among the crowd, clutching her two children tightly. Her thin frame trembled, her gaunt face revealed a pair of eyes filled with deep hatred for the soldiers before her, with their spears and sabers.

Her family had been a great clan of Jingzhou, a house of poetry and propriety. Her husband was skilled in medicine and had won much favor from Military Governor An Shuqian.

Han Qiniangzi herself came from a family of physicians. She had married into Jingzhou from Shu, and the couple had opened a medical practice, taking clever youths as disciples, and their fame had risen swiftly throughout Jingzhou and even all of Guanxi.

But then came the chaos of war. Her parents-in-law were killed, her husband carried off. Though she escaped with her life and her two children with the help of a few apprentices, she had just found a place to settle and was waiting for her husband's return when the mutinous soldiers came again.

Yet after watching for a while, Han Qiniangzi suddenly noticed these "bandit soldiers" were somewhat different. They were clearing the corpses from the city on a large scale, and by the river they were boiling medicinal decoctions. Every soldier's face was covered with white cotton cloth. It seemed there was a rather fine physician among them!

But when Han Qiniangzi sniffed carefully, the prescription seemed somewhat off — several principal ingredients were missing. She could not help feeling puzzled. How could someone who knew to cover the face with fine white cotton cloth be so ignorant of pharmacology?

Zhang Zhao let out a long sigh, his heart full of bitterness. In all, more than four thousand corpses had been cleared from Jingzhou City, most already beginning to rot.

Plain to see, the bodies bore wounds of blade and spear. The women were almost all stripped bare. Many infants lay dead beside their naked mothers. Some husbands had been hacked down before their doors, while wives and daughters lay naked on the beds within.

Many pregnant women had not escaped death either; in their rotting bodies, the infants had already taken form.

Many more corpses were mutilated — not by the mutinous soldiers' blades, but by wild dogs, wolves, even rats, gnawing at them these past days.

The Guiyi Army soldiers moved the corpses alongside Zhang Zhao. At first many were unwilling, but later, seeing the horror of Jingzhou City, one by one they fell silent, their hearts heavy.

"Old Yan, Old Bai, Xinchang my boy, Liecheng my boy — what are your thoughts?"

Zhang Zhao asked the men beside him. Yan Jin, Bai Congxin, and the others knew this was Zhang Zhao's habit — he liked to add a strange "Old" when addressing people.

Yan Jin shook his head, his face unmoved. "Since the mid-to-late Tang, military discipline has decayed, and over centuries it has come to this evil. In truth, it is not only the Central Plains that is so — the Tibetans are the same. But I cannot govern others; I can only govern the soldiers under my command."

Bai Congxin was even less moved. He had been a horse-bandit by origin. Though he had never slaughtered infants or pregnant women himself, he had heard plenty of such things.

Ah — perhaps he had never committed such atrocities only because infants and pregnant women did not appear among traveling merchants.

But after following Zhang Zhao for five or six years, Bai Congxin could not help being influenced by him, and his state of mind was far different from before.

"These bandit soldiers are brutal beyond measure. Surely they are nothing but a rabble. Though there may be one or two fierce men among them, they will amount to nothing. If the Sikong marches east with a righteous army, he will surely win a great victory!"

Murong Xinzhang clenched his fist in hatred. "I was just speaking of this with Brother Liecheng. Those mutinous soldiers have no humanity at all. When we meet them on the battlefield, I will cut my way through them seven times in and seven times out!"

"Right! If we rout those mutinous soldiers, not one should be spared!" Zhang Liecheng said angrily. Of the lowest birth, he could most readily feel the suffering of the common people.

Zhang Zhao nodded. At that moment Guo Tiance also hurried over, and Zhang Zhao looked at them all and spoke.

"Why do I insist on strict military discipline? It is precisely because of this. Our Guiyi Army men are a loyal and righteous force that has not forgotten the old country. Only by not wantonly killing, not plundering, can we stand in this dark and chaotic age and shine like the rising sun, letting all under heaven know our loyalty, courage, benevolence, and righteousness.

Tiance, gather all the secretaries and recorders. Write today's horror into storybooks and regulations. Let every man of our Guiyi Army know: a soldier protects home and country, and his hands must never be stained with the blood of common civilians.

In our Guiyi Army, such things must never occur, defiling our century-long great cause of returning to the country. Whoever dares commit this crime — no matter close kin or distant, no matter what rank — shall be executed without exception!"

"I obey! I will proclaim it throughout the army, so that all may know the Sikong's benevolence and righteousness!" Guo Tiance hastened to accept the order, then withdrew to make preparations.

By the time the corpses were cremated, the sky was nearly dark. The Guiyi Army cooks boiled thick millet porridge and baked flatbreads.

Along the way, everyone had been drinking fish soup, for military grain should be saved wherever possible, and fish scooped from the river made a decent broth.

But after reaching Jingzhou and seeing such horror — especially after corpses kept drifting onto the sandbanks along the Jing River — no one had the stomach for fish soup anymore.

Zhang Zhao simply had several dozen leaner sheep slaughtered and mutton soup boiled.

When the aroma of the porridge, the baking flatbreads, and especially the mutton soup drifted among the captured Jingzhou commoners, these refugees — whose household grain had long been plundered clean by the mutinous soldiers — could no longer sit still.

They stared longingly toward the direction of the aroma, sniffing ceaselessly. They did not know what this band of soldiers wanted, seizing them but not killing them, and now ignoring them.

In Han Qiniangzi's arms, two small heads nuzzled. A little girl with a loose, messy topknot lifted her thin, dirt-smeared face and looked pitifully at Han Qiniangzi.

"Mother, Yu'er wants flatbread!"

Hearing the little girl speak, the small boy beside her timidly pressed closer to Han Qiniangzi's chest, then said in a small voice, "Mother, Bao'er is hungry. Bao'er wants flatbread too."

Han Qiniangzi felt a surge of heartache and grievance. From eyes long dry of tears, a few drops rolled out once more.

She held her two children close, not knowing how to answer, and could only sob quietly. Hearing her cry, the Jingzhou commoners around her were also overcome with grief, and soon a chorus of weeping rose from the crowd.

By now the food was ready. Zhang Zhao personally carried over a winnowing basket of flatbreads, and had soldiers take flatbreads and carry the porridge over to the surviving Jingzhou commoners.

These Jingzhou people, who had barely escaped with their lives, stared blankly at Zhang Zhao. They huddled tightly together, trembling like quails, yet in their eyes was not only fear but also a deep-hidden, intense hatred.

Zhang Zhao set the flatbreads and porridge before them, then beckoned to a few elders in the crowd who looked like leaders.

"I must still march east to quell the rebellion, and our military grain is not over-abundant. One bowl of porridge and one flatbread per person."

Zhang Zhao paused. Originally the mutton was certainly not meant for these people, but looking at their gaunt, bony bodies and the young children whose heads seemed swollen from starvation, he could not bear it.

He turned to Guo Tiance and said, "Have the cooks bring another bucket of mutton soup. The mutton must be stewed until very tender, and add a little extra salt."

The crowd stared blankly at Zhang Zhao. They had prepared themselves to stretch out their necks for the blade, but never expected anyone to give them food. All were doubtful, none daring to speak, none daring to move.

Han Qiniangzi heard there was food, and her heart ached from the children's crying just now. Gritting her teeth, she stood up.

"Will you not kill us, good sir? Or are you feeding us so we may go more easily to our deaths?"

Before Zhang Zhao could react, Guo Tiance beside him was already displeased. He stepped forward, jabbed a finger at Lady Han Qi, and said angrily.

"This lady truly has no gift for speech. Standing before you is the Acting Minister of Works and Military Governor of Hexi, Lord Zhang. Lord Zhang took pity on you and gave you food. How dare you treat a good heart as a donkey's liver and lungs?"

Lady Han Qi smiled bleakly. "Then according to this gentleman, today we have actually seen government troops who do not kill. If such troops existed under heaven, how would our families have been destroyed and our homes ruined?"

These words were rather grating. Zhang Zhao looked at this thin woman with a bleak gaze and a half-crazed manner. He had thought to rebuke her, but reflected that her family and closest kin had likely been slaughtered, which had driven her somewhat mad.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao felt a measure of pity. He made an effort to soften his voice and said gently.

"We are the Guiyi Army from Hexi, not the rebel troops who sacked Binzhou. I act under imperial decree, solely to punish the rebels. Do not be suspicious. Eat in peace."

Having said this, Zhang Zhao did not linger. He turned and went to arrange the army's encampment and other matters.

With food in hand, the faces of Lady Han Qi and the other people of Jingzhou finally showed a bit more life. They wolfed down their food by the riverbank.

Lady Han Qi broke the crisp flatbread into small pieces and, along with mutton soup and millet porridge, slowly fed her son and daughter. In her heart, she felt a trace of curiosity about that Military Governor of Hexi, Lord Zhang, in the distance.

Could there truly be, in this world, a righteous army that did not kill and did not plunder?

She thought for a moment, entrusted her children to the old woman beside her, then stood up and, amid the worried gazes of the others, walked toward Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao was also preparing to eat something when he heard a guard's shout from behind him. He turned and saw that the thin, somewhat crazed little woman had been stopped.

Zhang Zhao waved a hand at the guards, signaling them to let the woman through. Fan Shun, who was eating beside Zhang Zhao, hastily stood up and put his hand on the hilt of the short blade at his waist.

Although the visitor was a woman, and frail and emaciated at that, as Zhang Zhao's personal bodyguard he still had to remain vigilant.

"I, on behalf of the survivors of Jingzhou, thank Lord Zhang the Minister of Works for the food!" Lady Han Qi said, her expression somewhat stiff.

Zhang Zhao smiled faintly. "This lady did not come over alone merely to say thank you, I think. If there is something on your mind, speak freely."

Lady Han Qi nodded with slight embarrassment, but the moment she opened her mouth, she seemed extremely confident. "By the river, I saw the physicians under the Minister of Works boiling medicine to prevent pestilence?"

"Correct. After great disasters, there are always great epidemics." Zhang Zhao nodded. "Does this lady also understand medicine?"

At the mention of medicine, Zhang Zhao saw this thin, small, filthy little woman suddenly take on a certain presence. Her grimy face actually shone with pride, like a hen that had just laid an egg.

"I know a little. Is the Minister of Works brewing Jade Screen Powder? That is a formula for warding off wind-evil invasion. It cannot prevent epidemics or block toxins. Moreover, the proportions of this formula are still immature. Using it rashly does more harm than good.

Furthermore, the Minister of Works' Jade Screen Powder is missing two ingredients: raw astragalus and honeysuckle. The sovereign, minister, assistant, and envoy roles are randomly assigned. Since you understand using white cotton cloth to cover the mouth and nose to block external evil, how could you use such a defective formula?"

Uh! Zhang Zhao turned to look at the army physicians behind him. These Hexi "famous doctors" were thoroughly embarrassed.

"Reporting to the Minister of Works, we are indeed short several ingredients, but Hexi does not have these medicinal materials. We could only reduce them somewhat."

Fine! Zhang Zhao did not blame them at all. He knew the level of medicine in Hexi. There were not even a few people who could identify all medicinal herbs.

As for treating illness, well! Zhang Zhao had never been sick, and even if he were, there were the monks of Dayun Temple.

But Dunzhu had experienced the medical standards of Hexi's physicians and told Zhang Zhao upon returning that it was not much different from what he had seen on the Qingtang Plateau — basically stuck at the level of drinking talisman water.

"This lady can tell there is a problem with the formula just by smelling it. Your medical skill must be extraordinary. Then tell me, what formula should be used to prevent and treat such epidemics?"

Zhang Zhao cupped his hands in salute and shot Guo Tiance a look. Guo Tiance hurriedly brought over a small wooden stool and invited Lady Han Qi to sit.

"Of course one should use Toxin-Vanquishing Powder. Epidemics are all caused by pestilential qi invading the human body.

One should use the drying herbs duhuo and qianghuo to dispel dampness and relieve pain, then use qianhu and fuling to support the righteous and expel evil, and finally use chaihu and jiegeng to regulate the flow of qi. Only then can epidemics be prevented and treated.

Unfortunately, there are no precious ingredients such as ginseng here, or the effect would be even better."

When Lady Han Qi spoke of medicinal formulas, she was eloquent and rattled them off like family treasures. Zhang Zhao, meanwhile, felt his head ache.

All this talk of yin-cold, expelling evil, and consolidating the foundation — he understood none of it!

But seeing the stunned expressions of the physicians behind him, Zhang Zhao felt this little woman must have real ability.

"May I ask this lady's surname? Is your learning a family tradition?" Zhang Zhao still wanted to confirm.

"My husband's family is surnamed Zhao. It is indeed a family tradition, though inherited from my father. My elder brother, Han Baosheng, has long been renowned in Shu, and the Lord of Shu has summoned him many times to consult on medicine."

Zhang Zhao had never heard of Han Baosheng, but he knew of Meng Chang of Later Shu.

As for governing the state, well, he was passable! But he was even more famous for being skilled at the cultured man's arts — poetry, song, and verse, medicine, divination, and astrology.

Anyone whom Meng Chang, himself versed in pharmacology, would summon to consult on medicine was certainly no ordinary person.

Moreover, Zhang Zhao truly needed an army physician well versed in medical theory, because conditions in Binzhou and the surrounding areas were bound to be even more dreadful than in Jingzhou.

Binzhou not only had a larger population than Jingzhou, but the rebels had occupied Binzhou longer than Jingzhou as well. He estimated that of the twenty thousand or so people in Binzhou city now, very few could have survived.

With corpses baking under the sun in this great heat, the epidemic prevention situation would likely be far more severe than in Jingzhou.

Besides, in Liangzhou, which Zhang Zhao currently governed, the level of medicine was roughly equivalent to spirit-dancing and talisman-water drinking.

And Shu was far wealthier than Guanzhong and Hexi. A quack from Shu would be called a famous doctor in Hexi. With such a woman of family learning, what reason did Zhang Zhao have not to recruit her?

With someone so skilled in medicine, man or woman, should he not hurry to lure her back to Liangzhou?

So Zhang Zhao immediately put on the face of one who humbly seeks worthy talent. "I wish to invite Lady Han to serve as Epidemic Prevention Commissioner of the army. What does the lady think?"

At these words, Lady Han Qi froze. Guo Tiance froze too. The people behind him, especially the physicians from Liangzhou, froze even more.

From ancient times to the present, who had ever let a woman hold office in the army?

However, Zhang Zhao's authority in the army was immense, and his word was law. No one dared voice opposition. Lady Han, though stunned, slowly shook her head, then seemed to nod, somewhat at a loss.

Zhang Zhao knew that although the customs of this era were far more open than those of the Two Song, Ming, and Qing periods, letting a woman serve in the army and constantly face ten thousand vigorous men —

especially in the profession of physician, which inevitably involved close contact — was something most women found hard to accept. So he quickly struck while the iron was hot and urged her.

"Lady Han's family is destroyed and her home ruined. What is there left to hold you back? Do you not wish to avenge your family?

In this dynasty, Princess Pingyang, a woman no less than any man, raised a great army against the tyrannical Sui and made countless good men willing to serve under her. After her death, she was buried with full military honors. And when the Great Sage Empress Zetian took the throne as a female sovereign, she opened a new chapter in history.

Today I am merely asking Lady Han to serve as the army's Epidemic Prevention Commissioner. What is there to hesitate about?"

Lady Han Qi's eyes shone at Zhang Zhao's words. She gritted her teeth. "I have one more matter. If the Minister of Works can grant it, I will serve the Minister of Works unto death!"

Zhang Zhao waved a hand magnanimously. "Speak freely. I grant it in advance!"

For someone with real ability whom I can use, I, the Grand Minister of Works Zhang, am absolutely the most generous and open-handed man under heaven.

And this Lady Han, in her current state — what excessive request could she possibly make?

Sure enough, Lady Han Qi performed a full kowtow to Zhang Zhao, then said.

"Jingzhou was plundered by rebel soldiers. Not to mention gold, silver, and goods, even the grain was swept clean. Though several hundred of us escaped with our lives, we have long had no food. I beg the Minister of Works to allow them to follow the army and survive."

"How kind-hearted you are, my lady!" Zhang Zhao exclaimed, then immediately added.

"But an army camp can never keep idle mouths. Once they have recovered, the men will do transport work and the women will join the rescue corps tending the wounded. Is that acceptable?"

Han Qiniangzi looked at Zhang Zhao with reverence shining in her eyes. This Minister of Works Zhang was even willing to wait until the people of Jingzhou recovered before putting them to work — so thoughtful, and so benevolent besides. Truly, he was a good official such as she had never seen.

"On behalf of the several hundred people of Jingzhou, your servant kowtows in thanks for the Minister's great kindness. Your servant has a storehouse outside the city, filled with all manner of medicines, which she wishes to present to the Minister for the army's use.

Moreover, your servant not only knows how to prevent and treat epidemics, she can also compound heat-relieving remedies. She will surely keep the Minister's army of benevolence free from the suffering of illness!"

"Hahaha! Good. Tiance, pay Lady Han at the rate of an adjutant, and find three careful old women from among the Jingzhou people to look after Lady Han's children!"

Zhang Zhao laughed three times. This was the reward of his benevolence — not only had he gained a physician who could prevent epidemics, but also a storehouse of medicinal herbs, and one who could compound heat-relieving remedies besides.

He knew that when a great army fought in the sixth and seventh months, the most critical thing was medicine to relieve the heat. Now that he had Han Qiniangzi, his confidence in suppressing the rebels had grown all the greater.

Just as Zhang Zhao was traveling south along the Jing River, in the eastern capital of Kaifeng, Pei Yuan was also packing his bags.

But he was not returning to Hexi. He was heading in another direction — Lingwu — to serve under Military Governor Zhang Xichong of Lingwu, as Chief Clerk of the Lingwu Military Governor and Defense Commissioner of Lingzhou.

And the reason Pei Yuan had been able to make Shi Jingtang generously hand over the posts of Military Governor of Hexi and Surveillance and Disposal Commissioner of the four prefectures of Shan, Lan, He, and Kuo — Zhang Zhao would very soon learn.

Put simply, Pei Yuan had given Shi Jingtang the exclusive sales rights to Hexi white sugar outside Guanzhong and Hedong.

At the same time, he had persuaded the temples of several major cities, including Kaifeng and Zhengzhou, to use this as collateral and lend Shi Jingtang close to one million strings of cash in military funds.

Perhaps it should not be called a loan, but rather a kind of multi-party borrowing, because in addition to the exclusive sales rights, Pei Yuan also had to pay the great temples more than six hundred thousand strings in Hexi silver notes.

And these six hundred thousand strings, Shi Jingtang would not repay to Zhang Zhao. Instead, he would settle the six hundred thousand strings by exempting from taxes the Hexi merchants designated by the Military Governor of Hexi.

Once the matter was done, Pei Yuan himself felt somewhat sorry toward Zhang Zhao. A full six hundred thousand strings!

But he knew Zhang Zhao would certainly agree, because apart from securing the post of Military Governor of Hexi, it had also won Zhang Zhao the opportunity to send troops to quell the rebellion.

From the various talents and Han subjects he could bring back to Hexi after the pacification alone, Zhang Zhao absolutely would not be losing out. It was only that the expenditure of six hundred thousand strings was truly a bit too large.

What a pity! Clever as Pei Yuan was, he still had not grasped the essence of finance. The essence of finance is credit!

Those six hundred thousand strings of silver notes were nothing but paper. As long as Zhang Zhao held the exclusive method for making white sugar, these silver notes tied to white sugar — so long as they were not over-issued too recklessly — were a nearly costless silver mountain, a silver mountain Zhang Zhao clutched in his own hand.

"Guoqiao, do you think sending Pei Yuying off to Lingwu was perhaps going a bit too far?"

In the Daning Hall, Shi Jingtang watched Pei Yuan's departing back and asked Sang Weihan with some reluctance.

A flash of ruthlessness passed through Sang Weihan's eyes. He turned to Shi Jingtang and said, "This Pei Yuying excels at governing the state and is even more skilled in adaptability and scheming. He is truly a figure like Xun Wenruo of Cao Wei or Wang Meng of the Former Qin.

With such a man assisting him, Zhang Zhao entrenched in Hexi will surely become a great threat to the state in days to come. We absolutely must not let Pei Yuying return to Hexi.

Lingwu hangs isolated in the northwest, yet is extremely wealthy, and it borders the grasslands. Military Governor Zhang Xichong has long wished to resign. With the slightest carelessness, it may fall to the Khitan.

The northwest is full of mixed barbarian tribes. If the Khitan seize Lingwu and win over the various barbarians, the Sage may find that even a Kaifeng Son of Heaven is beyond his reach!"

Although Shi Jingtang was a puppet emperor, his relationship with the Khitan still contained some resistance beneath the shamelessness.

His and Sang Weihan's thinking was this: having sold the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun, Shi Jingtang could still be a Son of Heaven in Kaifeng. But if Lingwu were lost and the northwestern barbarians went over to the Khitan, then it would be utterly finished.

Therefore, as soon as Shi Jingtang entered Kaifeng, he summoned Zhang Xichong, the Military Governor of Lingwu (Military Governor of Shuofang), to Kaifeng.

But Zhang Xichong had long been utterly exhausted, and only wished to return to the Central Plains to live out his old age. It was only after much persuasion that Shi Jingtang managed to send Zhang Xichong back.

Yet with Zhang Xichong governing such an important place with such unwillingness, problems would likely still remain.

So the two of them put their heads together. First, they believed Pei Yuan was Zhang Zhao's chief strategist, and harbored the idea of cutting off Zhang Zhao's right-hand man. Second, they wanted Pei Yuan to go to Lingzhou and help Zhang Xichong stabilize the situation.

"If the Sage feels he has wronged Pei Yuying, then he might posthumously honor his ancestors, enfeoff his parents, and let glory return to his home village, and further promote talented men of the Pei clan of Wenxi to office.

Even more, we could agree on a term of three years — if the situation in Lingwu stabilizes, then summon Pei Yuying to court!" Sang Weihan thought for a moment and said to Shi Jingtang.

However, neither of the two had considered one problem: going upstream along the Yellow River from Lingwu, one reaches Lanzhou! Between the two places lies only a single Huizhou!

But then again, one could hardly blame them. Compared with what Zhang Zhao could give Pei Yuan, Shi Jingtang could give far more.

Not only could he bring him into the central government as Chief Minister, he could also let Pei Yuan enfeoff his wife and bring honor to his sons, posthumously honor his ancestors, grant titles to his parents, and promote his clansmen and brothers.

With all this, for Pei Yuan to still go follow Zhang Zhao — would that not be madness?

Absolutely impossible!

—————— Off-topic ——————

Two chapters combined into one, 6800 characters. One update today.

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