Chapter 386: A Warning to the Khitan

The meal was thoroughly enjoyed by both host and guests, though at first it may not have been so harmonious, because Zhe Deyi and Chai Rong were both somewhat frightened by Zhang Zhao.

Chai Rong especially. Although the Chai family was a prominent clan of Xingzhou, by this time it had long since fallen into decline. After his father Chai Shouli had squandered the family fortune, he had become a complete wastrel utterly devoid of virtue, and his uncle and adoptive father Guo Wei had only just begun to rise, still far from wealth and rank.

Chai Rong had traveled far and wide, and from boyhood had witnessed the hardships of the common people. He knew very well how lofty was the status of a great warlord like Zhang Zhao, who held dozens of prefectures, ruled two million people, and commanded tens of thousands of troops.

So when the two of them saw Zhang Zhao personally working in the kitchen, one thought Great King Zhang had gone mad, and the other suspected Great King Zhang likely had a taste for handsome young men. Both were extremely nervous.

But once the dishes were served, and especially after they began drinking, Zhe Deyi and Chai Rong gradually shed their awkwardness.

The two of them were about the same age as Murong Xinzhang and Li Cunhui, and even the age difference with Great King Zhang was not great, so they quickly grew close.

After eating and drinking for a while, they went off to compete in archery, horsemanship, spears, and staves. Chai Rong could barely be counted as a down-and-out son of a wealthy family, yet his horsemanship was actually remarkably good.

Compared with standard military-house descendants like Murong Xinzhang, Li Cunhui, and Zhe Deyi, he was not the least bit inferior.

This was truly extraordinary. One must understand that the families of those first three all owned hundreds or even thousands of horses. To them, horses were like keeping a dog or a cat.

But Chai Rong certainly could not have had that. In Xingzhou, a single horse was not cheap, and what was more, his father had squandered the family property. That he could develop such superb horsemanship could only be called a natural gift.

Among the four, Murong Xinzhang was the best archer. This was innate talent. The good lad had repeatedly displayed the ability to hit arms and heads with precision at around a hundred paces. It could only be called a gift; no amount of practice could produce it.

The most exquisite with the lance was Li Cunhui. His family had been a military house for generations, and his fifth- and sixth-generation ancestors were famous brave generals. The lance art was a Li family heirloom; in lance skill alone, even Murong Xinzhang could not beat him.

Although Zhe Deyi enjoyed himself thoroughly, he was secretly alarmed. The little bit of pride he had felt as the young lord of the Zhe family vanished in an instant.

Murong Xinzhang, Li Cunhui, and Chai Rong were all younger than him, yet in horsemanship, archery, and spear-and-staff, he could not surpass a single one of them.

Another seven or eight days passed, and some of the cotton-padded coats and quilts escorted from Liangzhou arrived.

By now it was mid-eleventh month, and the weather was already quite cold. Snow fell almost every day, whether heavy or light, and if there was a day without snow, that was the strange thing.

Zhang Zhao gave Zhe Deyi and Chai Rong one padded cotton jacket each.

By this time, the cotton craft in Hexi was already approaching maturity, roughly comparable to the era of Huang Daopo. These warm and attractive winter garments made the two of them click their tongues in wonder.

Zhang Zhao truly treated the two of them incomparably well. All their treatment was identical to that of Murong Xinzhang and Li Cunhui. Chai Rong especially was at Zhang Zhao's side every day.

But while Chai Rong felt gratitude, he was also secretly troubled. His main task in coming to Xiazhou was to obtain a few Zhe-er horse breeding stallions!

He had assumed that after meeting the King of Han, he would be able to "move about" on his own. Instead, Zhang Zhao had taken a liking to him and kept him company every day. Where was the time?

Moreover, with Zhang Zhao treating him with such favor, he truly had no face to go and do such a thing.

Yet when he left, his uncle Guo Wei's words still rang in his ears. They had only just managed to gain Liu Zhiyuan's favor, and if this could be accomplished, they should still try their utmost.

Later that day, Zhang Zhao personally led Murong Xinzhang, Li Cunhui, Zhe Deyi, and Chai Rong to lie in ambush outside Xiazhou.

In fact, they had been lying in ambush for many days already, because while the Guiyi Army was attacking the city, the small number of elite Dingnan Army troops inside Xiazhou still came out from time to time to harass them.

These Dingnan Army troops, relying on the cold weather and the Guiyi Army's inability to keep watch day and night, repeatedly came out to harass the camps of the Guiyi Army laborers who were digging channels to divert the Hongliu River.

In the previous days, the cotton coats had not yet arrived, and the Guiyi Army had no way to deal with it. Once the cotton coats arrived, Zhang Zhao lightly led elite cavalry in ambush for two days and finally caught this band of Dingnan Army troops that kept coming out of the city.

At this time, the north gate of the inner western city of Xiazhou had a barbican, and the barbican gate did not need to be blocked with boulders, because the barbican itself was a defensive work.

The remaining elite cavalry of the Dingnan Army hid their horses inside the barbican, then sallied out on nights with good moonlight.

But this time they were doomed. With cotton coats, Zhang Zhao could lie in ambush outside the city on a snowy night. They had not gone far from the city when more than a thousand elite Guiyi Army cavalry intercepted them.

Four brave generals each led a column of cavalry in the assault, and the six hundred-odd Dingnan Army cavalry were almost completely annihilated.

The next morning, Zhang Zhao again led them to ambush north of the city. This was intelligence obtained by Zhe Deyi's fifty guards, who were fluent in both Tangut and Chinese.

The Tangut people near Youzhou and Dijin Marsh had drawn off a cavalry force, intending to charge into Xiazhou. They had originally had people inside to receive them, but those had been wiped out the previous night.

So before dawn, this Youzhou cavalry force fell into the Guiyi Army's encirclement. Of more than a thousand riders, over three hundred were killed on the spot, and all the rest were captured or died in the pursuit.

From then on, the Dingnan Army completely lost the ability to operate outside the city. They could only hole up in Xiazhou and wait for the Eastern Capital court to make its move months later.

After ambushing the Dingnan Army's effective strength, and with the support of the cotton coats and quilts, the Guiyi Army's siege tempo suddenly quickened.

The project to divert the Hongliu River was halfway complete, and the large trebuchets were in their final calibration.

Zhang Zhao also ordered men to pile up several earthen mounds over ten meters high outside Xiazhou, specifically to increase the destructive power of the trebuchets.

At the same time, Zhang Zhao arranged for his own one thousand men, plus the six hundred infantry and cavalry of the Hanshan Capital led by Man Xiong, to go and attack Suizhou.

And Gao Yunquan, having reorganized the Zhangwu Army of Yanzhou, would also lead two thousand men north in support.

This helmsman of the Gao family understood perfectly well that once Zhang Zhao swallowed the Dingnan Army's territory, the court would never again be able to check the northwest.

Their Yanzhou would bear the brunt first. If they wanted security, they had to curry favor with Zhang Zhao.

As for Zhe Deyi's repeated offers to go and recruit the Luoli, Guiren, and other tribes northwest of Xiazhou for Zhang Zhao, Zhang Zhao had never given a response. Now he finally agreed to let Zhe Deyi go and recruit them.

The Sun and Moon's Glory

But Zhe Deyi still felt a small twinge of discomfort in his heart. He guessed that Zhang Zhao probably did not want Tangut tribes that had already submitted to the Zhe family to enter Xiazhou.

However, Zhang Zhao then took out a map and summoned Murong Xinzhang, Li Cunhui, Chai Rong, and Zhe Deyi to his side. Reaching out, Zhang Zhao lightly drew a line between Fuzhou and Yunzhou.

Murong Xinzhang immediately noticed Zhang Zhao's gesture, and he pounced over excitedly.

"Is my lord going to rescue Yunzhou? I have long heard that the Khitan iron cavalry is matchless in valor. I have long wanted to see them for myself."

When the other three heard Murong Xinzhang ask this, they all instantly widened their eyes and stared at Zhang Zhao. Zhe Deyi especially suddenly felt that this Great King Zhang's thinking was something he could never fathom.

Zhang Zhao gently shook his head. "Yunzhou cannot be saved. Since Yelu Deguang has personally led fifty thousand troops there, the fall of Yunzhou is already a foregone conclusion, unless my Guiyi Army likewise had fifty thousand iron cavalry."

"Indeed! We could still scrape together fifty thousand troops, but fifty thousand iron cavalry would take at least another three to five years." Li Cunhui also shook his head.

"Yunzhou has always been a bastion of the northern frontier. Once the Khitan take it, Fuzhou, Xiazhou, and Lingzhou will all know no peace.

Moreover, the people of Yunzhou are also people of the Central Kingdom. If we simply watch them fall to the barbarians, they will surely harbor resentment.

This kind of suffering is what my Guiyi Army, high and low, knows best. Therefore I have decided to draw two thousand elite cavalry, all mounted on the finest Zhe-er horses, clad in cloth-faced iron armor, and selected from the army's most skilled riders and archers. We absolutely cannot let the Khitan take Yunzhou easily."

Zhang Zhao slammed his fist heavily on the table, his expression quite angry. Murong Xinzhang and Li Cunhui nodded in agreement.

Zhe Deyi, however, directly knelt and gave Zhang Zhao a grand ceremonial bow.

"Great King, you are truly a great man! My Zhe family has lived in Yunzhou for generations, and we too know the pain of being betrayed. Moreover, if the Khitan take Yunzhou easily, they will surely come to Fuzhou next.

If we could have the aid of two thousand of the Guiyi Army's finest iron cavalry, my Zhe family can also draw two thousand elite cavalry.

From Fuzhou, past the Eastern Surrender City of the Zhenwu Army, and on to Yunzhou is no more than six hundred li. Four thousand iron cavalry can advance to attack and retreat to defend. We will surely make that Yelu Deguang feel as if a bone is stuck in his throat, unable to advance or retreat!"

Among the four, Zhe Deyi was not the best in archery, horsemanship, spear, or staff, but his political instincts were absolutely the finest.

He could sense that Zhang Zhao intended to use this matter to burnish his reputation, and very likely also wanted to win over the hearts of the people in Yunzhou, Yingzhou, and the other prefectures.

This expedition was by no means meant to defeat the Khitans, but to show the world his resolve and display his strength.

Ever since Zhe Deyi had caught sight of the Lingwu Army among the Guiyi Army, the points he had not understood before had all become clear.

With the Dingnan Army gone, Great King Zhang's next step would surely be to swallow up Lingzhou, and the greatest threat was the Khitans, who could come out from beyond the Helan Mountains at any time.

This dispatch of troops was also, in passing, a warning to the Khitans: stay away from the Lingzhou area.

Chai Rong, however, had not thought this far. Still young and not yet holding high office, he could not yet consider such matters of grand strategy and popular sentiment.

He only felt that Zhang Zhao was sincerely working for the country and the people, still thinking of going to support Yunzhou at such a critical moment.

"I am handing my two thousand finest cavalry to the two of you. You must work as one and fulfill the charge of your foster father!"

Zhang Zhao took Murong Xinzhang and Li Cunhui by the hands, using the word "charge."

And after they were alone, he would certainly explain in detail the true purpose of the expedition.

That purpose was to show the world his resolve to resist the Khitans, and at the same time to serve as a warning to the Khitans—a warning not to reach their hands out too far.

This "too far" did not refer to Lingzhou, because swallowing Lingzhou was only the appetizer. The main course was the Gaochang Uyghurs that came next, and the Gaochang Uyghurs had always maintained contact with the Khitans.

On the birthdays of the Khitan Empress Dowager Shulu Ping and the Khitan ruler Yelu Deguang, the Gaochang Uyghurs would send envoys to offer congratulations.

So what Zhang Zhao wanted to warn even more was that the Khitans should not make any rash moves while he destroyed the Gaochang Uyghurs.

Murong Xinzhang and Li Cunhui, who had always been quietly competing with each other, exchanged a glance. Although the two of them did not fully understand Zhang Zhao's purpose, they still knew what mattered. Both knelt on one knee at the same time and nodded heavily.

"Rest assured, my lord. We two will certainly work as one."

"Young master of the Zhe family, my two thousand iron cavalry—Xinzhang and Cunhui—are all under your command. You must lead them and let the Khitans know what they are dealing with!"

Zhe Deyi's military talent was quite reliable, very likely even surpassing that of his father, Zhe Congyuan.

Still, he had not expected Zhang Zhao to give him command. Although that command was quite limited, it nevertheless showed that Zhang Zhao trusted him deeply.

"I, your servant, am honored by the Great King's trust, and I know the Great King is doing this to help my Fuzhou survive its calamity. Please set your mind at ease, Great King!" Zhe Deyi was deeply moved, and now held Zhang Zhao in the highest respect.

"Chai Dalang, are you willing to go along to Yunzhou?" Only at the end did Zhang Zhao ask Chai Rong.

After all, he was Liu Zhiyuan's man. But if he went to Yunzhou this time, it would probably not be so easy to erase the mark of the Guiyi Army afterward.

But at this moment Chai Rong did not think that far. He was still stirred by the great cause of rescuing the people of Yunzhou and helping defend Fuzhou, and he immediately cupped his hands.

"To be present at such a grand undertaking—how could I dare not follow!" (To be continued)

Related