Chapter 371: Salt

Yanzhou, of course, took its name from salt. Among the later "Three Treasures of Dingbian," the first was crude salt.

Not just now — even in the later Republic era, the salt pools of Dingbian were the raw-salt production base for the entire province of Shaanxi.

Most of the salt for all of Shaanxi, plus northern Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia, depended on supply from here.

And in ancient times, salt was the best tool the government had for controlling the population. Before Zhang Zhao transmigrated, he often saw protagonists in transmigration novels abolish the official salt monopoly and treat it as a benevolent policy, and Zhang Zhao always felt his scalp go numb at that.

In this age when imperial power did not reach below the county level, salt was practically the only means by which the Emperor and the court could fully keep local magnates and powerful families in check.

Abolishing the official salt monopoly would only fatten the local strongmen, make life even harder for the common people, and cost the court an extremely useful weapon of centralization.

Yanzhou and Xiazhou lay right next to each other. From Wuyuan, the prefectural seat of Yanzhou, to the prefectural seat of Xiazhou was only a little over three hundred li.

At such close range, the Dingnan Army would certainly never let go of such a fat piece of meat.

As far back as the late Tang, men of the Li family of the Dingnan Army had held posts such as Defense Commissioner of Yanzhou. Although, under the wary eye of the Central Plains court, they had never fully taken Yanzhou, their infiltration was nearly complete.

Therefore, when Zhang Zhao's great army reached the Anle River, over two hundred li from Yanzhou (the Shanshui River in Lingwu County), Tangut cavalry immediately spotted them.

But this was a case of the prepared against the unprepared. Zhang Zhao had called up large numbers of sworn-follower elite riders from Huizhou, men who knew this country just as well. With superior numbers and superior horses, nearly all the Tangut roving riders who came to spy on the army were captured or killed.

Meanwhile, Qiong Re Duojin took Zhang Zhao's three hundred Basmyl personal-guard elite riders, together with two yabing officers of the Lingwu Army sent by Zhang Xichong, and went ahead to Yanzhou to lure the Defense Commissioner out.

Xiazhou, Shuofang City. If one asked which of the famous cities of the northwest had suffered the worst fate, Shuofang City would claim second place, and absolutely no one would dare claim first.

The city was built of rammed earth mixed with rice paste. Its historical founder was Helian Bobo, descendant of the Xiongnu Worthy Prince of the Left, and the city's original name was even more resounding — it was called Tongwan City!

In the later Republic era, although the cities of the northwest had all declined, each at least remained a county seat. Only Xiazhou became a tiny village called Baichengzi.

The greatest reason was that in the fifth year of Chunhua (994), after the Northern Song army breached Xiazhou, Emperor Taizong of Song, dreading Tongwan City's impregnable strength — "a knife cannot pierce it, arrows and stones cannot harm it" — issued an edict to destroy Xiazhou and move away all its inhabitants.

After that destruction, it was never rebuilt, all the way until the Western Xia was destroyed.

Just as Zhang Zhao's great army had reached the Anle River west of Yanzhou, inside the Dingnan Army headquarters at Xiazhou, they were still wavering over the Qingzhou affair.

It was not a debate over whether to attack Qingzhou, but over whether to send more troops.

Three months earlier, after unrest broke out in Qingzhou and the Dingnan Army's special envoy was killed, Li Yiyin had immediately ordered three thousand troops to march, joined by three thousand Tangut from northern Qingzhou — six thousand in all — straight down the Malian River toward Qingzhou City.

By Li Yiyin's original reckoning, the moment his six thousand men reached Qingzhou, Li Yuanzai would come out of the city, bow his head, and admit his fault.

With the thirty thousand-odd herdsmen under Li Yuanzai's command, he could at most scrape together a little over four thousand cavalry.

Mind you, these cavalry were not properly armored horsemen, but riders who could only be called armed herdsmen.

They were absolutely no match for these several thousand Xiazhou cavalry in oxhide armor with a few in iron armor — to say nothing of the three thousand cavalry from northern Qingzhou lending support.

But things quickly defied Li Yiyin's expectations. Li Yuanzai actually rallied his followers and held Qingzhou City to the death. The Dingnan Army cavalry, who had originally only prepared to go mete out punishment, were provoked into a fury — yet after more than a month of fierce assaults, they still could not break in, and had to send men back to Xiazhou to request reinforcements.

At this time, the Military Governor of the Dingnan Army, Li Yiyin, was a very fat man — or rather, an extremely agile, formidable-in-combat very fat man.

Though his great weight was ill-suited to galloping on horseback, he had trained the infantry-spear techniques to true mastery.

It was precisely in his hands that the Dingnan Army underwent a qualitative change, from a Tangut tribal confederation content merely to hold the four prefectures of Xia, Sui, Yin, and You, into a formal warlord power with its eyes on the Central Plains.

Under Li Yiyin, whenever anyone in the Central Plains rebelled, the Dingnan Army would stick a hand in to fish for advantage.

Historically, after the Northern Song was founded, Li Yiyin had originally formed an alliance with the Northern Han, but the moment he saw the Song had the momentum to unify the realm, he immediately turned his back on them and began helping Zhao Kuangyin attack the Northern Han, behaving with the utmost deference. After his death, Emperor Taizu of Song suspended court for three days in his honor and posthumously enfeoffed him as King of Xia.

Such an old fox was naturally no simple figure, and he too had caught a whiff of something unusual in the Qingzhou affair.

Just as his cousin Li Yiyu, beside him, was still bellowing that he would personally lead troops to Qingzhou and cut off Li Yuanzai's dog head, Li Yiyin gently shook his head.

"This time it was the Xifeng clan who personally led the troops. I never intended to kill Li Yuanzai — I only wanted him to give an accounting and pay compensation in cattle and sheep. Why would he react like this?

With just that paltry force in Qingzhou, how did he hold Qingzhou for over a month? Could it be that the Xifeng clan coveted the wealth and goods in Qingzhou City and forced Li Yuanzai into fighting for his life?"

Li Yiyin's son Li Guangrui, beside him, shook his head. The young chief of the Xifeng clan had been his companion since childhood, and Li Guangrui knew him somewhat.

"It shouldn't be. Xifeng Xili is bold but careful. Even if he coveted Qingzhou's wealth, he would have done it more cleverly. Besides, he doesn't have the nerve to defy you, Father.

From his report, he never even saw Li Yuanzai at all.

Your son suspects something went wrong within Qingzhou itself. Li Yuanzai's second son, Li Yanli, followed that King of Han from Hexi to Guanzhong. Could it be connected to that?"

At these words, Li Yiyin, Li Yiyu, Li Yimin, Tuoba Chongde, and the others looked at one another, all somewhat uncertain.

This conflict had arisen because Li Yuanzai resold them a thousand jin of Hexi fine iron — but from beginning to end, thinking it over carefully, everything about it was strange.

A thousand jin of fine iron, wherever you were, was no small fortune. Li Yuanzai merely had a son who had taken one or two thousand men to lend a hand to the Guiyi Army — how could he possibly have obtained so much Hexi fine iron, and how had it been exposed so quickly?

Li Yiyin rose irritably to his feet and paced back and forth a few steps.

"But even if it is connected to Zhang, King of Han in Hexi, why would he do this?

He and we are both military governors of the border wastes. My Dingnan Army is of Tangut origin, and his Zhang family is nothing but Wenmo stock. We both heed orders but not summons. Why would he scheme against me?"

Li Yiyin's line of reasoning was actually sound. In the eyes of many at this time, the Wenmo — or rather, slave-boy-of-the-Tibetans — air still clung heavily to Zhang Zhao.

The Guiyi Army and the Dingnan Army were very similar: both were semi-independent military garrisons of the northwest.

By the thinking of the age, the Guiyi Army and the Dingnan Army ought to watch each other's backs — allies guaranteeing each other's semi-independent status!

"Could the court have issued a secret order?" Li Yiyu said after a moment's thought.

"No!" Li Guangrui shook his head rapidly.

"An Zhongrong of the Chengde Army has just raised troops in rebellion. The Son of Heaven has already led the imperial guard into Yecheng to guard against him. Even if he meant to move our Li family's garrison again, he would not choose this moment."

"And besides..." Li Guangrui laughed as he spoke. "If he let the Zhang family of Hexi swap garrisons with us, wouldn't that be exactly what we could wish for?

Liang, Lan, He, Wei, Qin, and the other prefectures are not only rich — they are our ancestral homeland. If the Dingnan Army and the Guiyi Army exchanged places, that King of Han would probably be the first to jump up and make trouble."

Li Yiyin, hearing this, also showed a rare smile. "My son is right. If they truly wanted us to swap garrisons with the Guiyi Army, I fear that King of Han would refuse.

Let us stop guessing here. My son, go back and prepare. In the eleventh month it is the King of Han's birthday. Make a trip to Liangzhou and see what that King of Han intends.

As for Qingzhou, let Xifeng Xili keep it under siege for another month. When the grain in the city runs out, I will personally lead the great army and drag Li Yuanzai back to Xiazhou to have his belly split and his heart cut out."

The company had just finished laughing and were about to disperse when wailing cries suddenly came from outside the door.

Li Yiyin's sixth brother, Li Yijun, stumbled in, face covered in grime, his clothes still stuck with dried purple bloodstains.

"Isn't Sixth Brother supervising the salt at the White Salt Pool in Yanzhou? Who let you come running back? What happened?" Li Yiyin was instantly alarmed.

The White Salt Pool and the Huama Pool were the two most important salt fields of the Dingnan Army. Every year, with warhorses and salt, the Dingnan Army traded for great quantities of supplies.

The finest refined white salt from the White Salt Lake was tribute for the Son of Heaven in the Central Plains — not a moment's delay could be allowed.

"Brother, the day before yesterday a group suddenly came from Lingzhou, saying that Grand Commandant Zhang of Lingzhou was coming to Yanzhou and summoning the Defense Commissioner out of the city to meet him. We went along too.

Who would have thought that barely ten-odd li outside the city, that group suddenly struck. They had three hundred armored cavalry lying in ambush, killed Defense Commissioner Zhang outright, and seized the city.

If I hadn't run fast, I'd have been cut down outside Yanzhou long ago."

Li Yijun rushed over, threw his arms around Li Yiyin's leg, and burst into tears with a wail.

"This is bad! My lord, all the horse-breeding lands around Lingzhou are in our hands. The Lingwu Army could never produce three hundred armored cavalry.

Besides, the armored cavalry officers in the Lingwu Army are all in contact with us. If Zhang Xichong really were coming to Yanzhou, we would certainly have known in advance, and he would never dare use such methods."

Li Guangrui started in alarm, and looked at Li Yiyin with shock and anger.

"Did you see clearly that they were indeed armored cavalry?" Li Yiyin asked, his face ashen.

"They were indeed armored cavalry — black leather armor with strange-looking mail over it, cavalry lances in hand, and the hengdao sabers at their waists were of fine quality too.

In just a few charges they scattered the yabing guards around the Defense Commissioner. The horses were tall and big, very much like those fold-eared horses from Hexi." Li Yijun thought for a moment, then replied.

"This must be the Guiyi Army from Hexi. So this scoundrel has had his eye on my Dingnan Army all along!" Tuoba Chongde leapt to his feet.

Li Yiyin was also ablaze with fury. "That Wenmo wretch has some nerve! Go down at once and summon the tribes. Yanzhou must not be lost, at any cost!"

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