Chapter 462: Natural Disasters Can Never Compare to Man-Made Calamities

In the headquarters of the Huazhou Zhenguo Army Military Governor, this was probably the least dignified governor's headquarters in the entire Later Jin court.

Still in the governor's residence were only the secretary Zhao Ying had brought with him, along with thirty or forty yabing guards recruited from his own clan.

But the Zhao family had always been a modest household of letters and rites, with no tradition of martial training passed down through generations, so the yabing guards recruited from the Zhao clan and nearby villagers were rather mediocre in combat.

Thus, even though Zhao Ying was a Huazhou native, and the Zhao family's Huayin County was one of the three counties under Huazhou's jurisdiction, Zhao Ying still could not command the more than two thousand Zhenguo Army yabing guards who had long entrenched themselves locally.

Since last winter, Huazhou had first suffered flooding, and then a locust plague.

Before the autumn harvest, nearly ten thousand households had already been reduced to disaster victims — roughly the population of an entire county, essentially left with no means of survival.

They had barely managed to hold out until the autumn harvest, and the autumn grain across all of Huazhou had fallen by more than half, yet the court's autumn tax was not only not waived, but instead demanded to be shipped out within a month and a half.

At the same time, the Zhenguo Army, from top to bottom, in order to guarantee their own families and relatives had enough grain, simply had their yabing guards disguise themselves as bandits and plunder everywhere, turning what had been a natural disaster completely into a man-made calamity.

In truth, with only a few thousand men in the Zhenguo Army plus their families and relatives, how could they possibly eat that much grain?

This was clearly those yabing officers preparing to plunder grain and hoard it, then sell it at high prices to fleece the common people.

As for Zhao Ying, the governor, the most he was capable of was keeping his own family from being robbed by the Zhenguo Army, scraping together a little grain, and preserving the lives of his fellow villagers.

So when he saw Han Silang, his face covered in blood, tears, and dust, Zhao Ying could only raise his head to the heavens and sigh deeply, then speak to Han Silang with boundless shame.

"Though I hold the office of governor over a military province, I have few soldiers in hand. It is not that I will not act — truly, I am powerless to do so!"

Tears rushed down from Han Silang's eyes, and halfway down they mixed with the dried bloodstains and dust into a streak of dark red mud. He raised a manuscript, only half finished, high above his head with both hands and said to Zhao Ying.

"Third Uncle once said that if even Governor Zhao cannot save Yuxian Town, then please accept this manuscript.

This is a book of agronomy that Third Uncle exhausted his mind and energy to compile. If the Governor is so inclined, and one day allows this incomplete draft to see the light of day again, then our acquaintance will not have been in vain."

Hearing these words, Zhao Ying's face was likewise streaming with tears. For a man of letters, this was the most helpless of moments.

He reached out his hand, just about to take the stack of manuscript pages, when unexpectedly a large hand shot out from beside him and snatched the manuscript away.

Han Silang looked up and saw that the one who had grabbed the manuscript was a Sogdian with a high nose and deep-set eyes.

This Sogdian had an utterly ordinary appearance — the kind of face you would not spare a second glance even if he were thrown into a crowd.

So much so that when Han Silang had first entered, he had completely ignored this Sogdian's presence.

Only now that the manuscript had been snatched away did Han Silang notice that this Sogdian carried an indescribable air about him.

If he stared at you long enough, you could not help but feel a chill creep through your heart.

And behind this Sogdian stood six brawny men, each with a different bearing.

Their shared quality was just like this Sogdian's — ordinarily they drew no attention at all, but once you truly noticed them, you would sense something out of the ordinary.

Han Silang, who had seen battle himself, also caught a faint, unsettling smell on them — the peculiar rank, metallic stench of iron and blood.

That kind of rank stench was most often found on those yabing guards who killed men like scything grass. These men were all fiends of the battlefield.

"Intercropping methods, grafting methods, brewing methods, and even extracting powder from lotus roots and lotus seeds. Hmm, in some places it actually coincides with what my father the king said in years past.

Father the king once said that powder could be extracted from rice, and that even in the far reaches of the great ocean, there are several foods which, once their powder is extracted, are both abundant and delicious."

Zhang Liecheng looked at the tearful Han Silang and grinned, then without the slightest courtesy tucked the manuscript into his breast.

He had just now been drawn over by the two words "agronomy" and had come to snatch the manuscript, because he knew Zhang Zhao cared about such things.

"How many li is it to Yuxian Town from here?" Zhang Liecheng asked softly.

"A little over fifty li. If we spare no effort from the horses, we can arrive in just over a shichen." A light of hope shot from Han Silang's eyes.

"Then your family is saved! I happen to be able to spare a few shichen." Having said this, Zhang Liecheng cupped his hands in salute to Zhao Ying.

"The message has been delivered. In a few days, Commissioner Liu of Yuanzhou will send someone to make contact. The Heavenly King, with the post of Vice Minister of Personnel, awaits Governor Zhao."

Having spoken, and without waiting for Zhao Ying's reply, Zhang Liecheng waved his hand, and the six guards behind him bundled Han Silang out through the headquarters gate.

Only then did Han Silang see that in the alley beside the headquarters, there were twenty or thirty more men in the same attire.

Each of them had two horses — one horse for riding, and on the other horse's back were tied iron armor and a stiff bow.

"Special operation — spare a horse for this Han Silang!"

Zhang Liecheng waved his hand, and a tall, fold-eared horse was led before Han Silang.

Han Silang looked at this tall horse, whose shoulder height was only a little lower than his own, and was so stirred that goosebumps rose all over his body.

Compared to this horse, the one he had ridden over to deliver the message looked like a short little donkey.

"A tall, fine horse, iron armor, a stiff bow — you like them too, don't you?" Zhang Liecheng seized Han Silang's hand and lifted it up for a look.

Sure enough, there were thick calluses at the web of the thumb, and marks on his fingers from frequently wearing a thumb ring.

"So you come from a fighting background. Rest assured, as long as the head of your Han clan truly has the abilities in his manuscript, the Heavenly King never lacks for such things — as long as you have the skill."

"Heavenly King?" Han Silang was taken aback. "You are Great King Zhang's soldiers?"

"Who else did you think would go rescue people for the sake of half a book of agronomy?"

Zhang Liecheng made no effort to hide his pride, and Han Silang could not help but nod in agreement.

In Yuxian Town, the able-bodied men of the Han clan lay strewn across the ground, and the townsfolk's weeping shook the heavens as they were driven like sheep, one by one, into the center of the town.

The difference between able-bodied villagers and true yabing guards was just that great. A mere fifty-odd yabing guards had easily taken a town with more than two hundred able-bodied men.

The earthen walls on all four sides had been of hardly any use at all.

Calling these men Yaozhou bandits was not wrong, because they were not soldiers of Huazhou's Zhenguo Army, but yabing guards of the Shunyi Army from Yaozhou to the north.

Being locals themselves, how could they have the face to do such a thing? The soldiers still needed to preserve a little bit of their reputation.

So the officers and men of Huazhou's Zhenguo Army disguised themselves as bandits and went plundering all over Yaozhou, while Yaozhou's Shunyi Army came to Huazhou to "sweep clean."

Moreover, the two sides had a tacit understanding not to touch the places where each level of officers' families and relatives lived.

The band of brigands that had come this time were yabing guards under Commander Zhou of the Shunyi Army.

Commander Zhou had long heard of Yuxian Town's prosperity. Although he had lost one brother this time, the haul was considerable.

More than a hundred able-bodied men who had basically been eating their fill should not lack for strength, and could be put to work hauling back the grain and gold and silver they had looted.

As for the women — though in chaotic times every extra mouth meant extra consumption, Commander Zhou had no intention of keeping them long. Feeding them for a few days was no great matter.

But there was no need to keep the old and the very young — they were of no use to them.

No orders were needed; the soldiers, long accustomed to this kind of work, knew exactly what to do.

They split the crowd with practiced ease — able-bodied men and sturdy women on one side, the old, weak, and children on the other.

"O Heaven! Why were we born into such a chaotic age!"

Han E had still been hoping these men might be somewhat decent — that they would only plunder grain and not carry people off or slaughter them all.

But the moment he saw them begin separating the townsfolk, he sensed disaster. They had run into the most vicious kind of bandits — men who would not only plunder, but leave not even a chicken or dog alive.

"Old slave, what are you wailing about? Blame your own bad luck — keeping grain in a famine year. If we hadn't come, someone else would have!"

Commandant Zhou smiled cruelly, a savage gleam flashing in his triangular eyes.

Though when he said someone else would come if he did not, that was just a figure of speech — because they had already come to an understanding with the officers of the Zhenguo Army. No one else would be coming.

But the words had barely left his mouth when hoofbeats sounded from outside the town. Commandant Zhou scrambled up the earthen wall in two or three bounds and looked out.

He saw a piebald horse racing toward them from the distance. The rider on its back was hunched over, a small red flag in his hand, shaking it ceaselessly.

This was a scout he had sent out. A waving red flag meant a large enemy force was attacking.

Could someone else really have set their sights on Yuxian Town too?

No! Impossible! Commandant Zhou quickly shook his head. Commander Li of the Zhenguo Army was a man of principle — he would never do such a thing.

As the scout on the piebald horse drew nearer, the sound of hoofbeats grew denser.

Some thirty or forty riders came galloping in from the distance, and at great speed.

Seeing that the opposing force was not large either, Commandant Zhou felt a little more at ease.

He bellowed orders, leaving a few men to keep the townsfolk securely under guard, while the rest of the yabing guards hurried up onto the north side of the earthen wall to meet the enemy.

By the time everyone had mounted the wall, the scout on the piebald horse had just reached them.

Contrary to Commandant Zhou's expectation that the scout would have been shot full of arrows like a porcupine, there was only a single long arrow shaft lodged in the scout's back. Some characters were carved on the shaft, but he could not read them.

"Iron... iron armor! They have iron armor!"

This extraordinarily dutiful scout had forced himself to hold on until he saw Commandant Zhou and delivered this most vital piece of intelligence — only then did he tumble from his horse with a thud, alive or dead no one knew.

"Iron armor?" Commandant Zhou chewed over those words. Could the attackers all be iron-armored cavalry?

Had Military Governor An of the Jinchang Army come?

Commandant Zhou's heart jolted. The current Governor of Jingzhao (Chang'an) and Military Governor of the Jinchang Army, An Yanwei, was an upright man. If he heard they were masquerading as bandits, he might well send men to punish them.

"Commandant, something's wrong! These men aren't from our side!"

Just as Commandant Zhou was growing suspicious, a squad deputy beside him suddenly howled.

Commandant Zhou, already on edge, glared at him.

"They shot Zhu Dayan dead. Of course I know they're not from our side."

"No! No!" The squad deputy waved his hands frantically.

He had previously served under Zhao Kuangzan for a time before Zhao went over to the Khitan. When An Shenqi mediated the clash between Zhang Zhao and Li Congyan below Mawei Slope, he had seen the Hexi troops up close — so he recognized them at once.

"I mean — look at their warhorses. They don't look like soldiers of our Great Jin!"

"Not soldiers of the Great Jin?" Commandant Zhou frowned in puzzlement, then suddenly started in alarm.

"Could the Liang Kingdom's army be attacking?"

As for Zhang Zhao, many of the warriors of Guanzhong — the officers especially — did not much like him, and some even feared him.

Because when their Great Yinli Khagan last entered Guanzhong, he had shown himself to be a man who treated the common people kindly, kept strict military discipline, and neither robbed nor plundered.

This sat very ill with warriors accustomed to the idea that a man with a blade in hand was the king of heaven himself.

They felt Zhang Zhao and the Liang Kingdom's soldiers had come to break the rules.

"Who cares about some king of heaven or not! If Liang Kingdom soldiers dare run wild in our Jin lands, I'd like to see whether they've really got three heads and six arms!"

Commandant Zhou put on a show of utter fearlessness — then immediately flew into a rage again.

Because the Liang cavalry galloping up from the distance had actually split off ten riders to each side to cut off their escape, while the remaining twenty dismounted not far from the north wall and began slowly closing in.

"This is intolerable!" Commandant Zhou's nose twisted with fury. He swept his hengdao saber through the air.

"Lads, mount up with me! Let's teach these ignorant Liang bumpkins a lesson!"

The commandant's calculations were sound. He had forty-odd men, roughly equal to the enemy. The enemy had dared split off half their force and dismount. Charging twenty foot soldiers with forty riders — how could he possibly lose?

Hoofbeats thundered, shouts rose on all sides, and forty yabing guards of the Shunyi Army spurred their horses and charged.

Fortunately, horses made their looting expeditions convenient — each of these forty men had two horses, and their riding skills were passable.

"Twang! Twang! Twang!" Commandant Zhou heard only the soft vibration of bowstrings. Instead of massing into formation, the enemy actually spread out a little further.

Because Commandant Zhou's men were also charging in loose order, the enemy's scattered positions allowed them to shoot with better aim.

A few piercing screams rang out, and men kept toppling from their saddles around him. These Liang soldiers were fine archers indeed.

The arrow storm was not dense, yet in the space of a few breaths it had brought down five or six of their men.

But that was all — because they had only twenty paces left before they reached the enemy line. Cavalry lances driven home with the force of a charging horse were something infantry could not withstand. Once they closed in, the enemy was surely dead.

'Splat!' Commandant Zhou had just raised his lance in excitement when he suddenly heard a strange sound, followed by a strange smell.

In a flash, it was as if a thunderbolt had exploded before his eyes. His vision swam, and a muffled "thunderclap" boomed out right after.

Commandant Zhou felt a searing pain all over his face, as if he had plowed headfirst into a hornet's nest — every inch of it stung as though pierced by needles.

Something unknown had also gotten into his eyes, making it impossible to open them.

Zhang Liecheng gave a cold laugh. For frightening warhorses, nothing worked better than a pear-blossom lance.

No warhorse encountering one for the first time failed to be terrified into wild bucking and bolting.

Once the horses panicked, they were easy to deal with. The frightened animals wheeled and fled, and riders who lost control of their mounts became even easier targets.

The armored soldiers behind Zhang Liecheng unhurriedly drew their arrows and shot down the cavalrymen on the bolting horses as easily as shooting wild hares.

The few horses that had not been frightened — their riders no longer dared press the charge either, and wheeled their mounts around and fled to the rear.

At that very moment, the Brocade Guard cavalry, who had looked to be splitting off to seal the routes, also turned back to intercept them.

Brandishing their cavalry lances, they drove clean through the fleeing Shunyi Army bandit horsemen from both flanks. Their annihilation was only a matter of moments.

Han Silang stared at all this in stunned disbelief. Those bandit riders, so savage and terrifying in his eyes, had been dealt with just like that, with such ease.

Four days later, the first batch of refugees set out from Guanzhong toward Hexi, led by Han E and, behind him, Han Silang.

Although the Shunyi Army bandits had been nearly wiped out, Yuxian Town — and the Han family in particular — could no longer remain there.

In this raid by the bandit horsemen, the Han family had lost more than twenty able-bodied men. That made Han E realize they could not hold on to these tens of thousands of shi of grain; sooner or later the entire Han clan would be dragged down with it.

More importantly, of course, Zhang Liecheng had not given him any choice in the matter.

If Han E had been foolish enough to refuse, Zhang Liecheng would simply have abducted him and taken him to Hexi.

Because through a few simple questions and answers, Zhang Liecheng had realized that this Han E, and the descendants he had raised, truly possessed strong knowledge of agronomy.

This was precisely the kind of talent the Liang state lacked most! One had only to recall that in Great King Zhang's imperial examinations, there was a subject on agriculture.

When it came to talent, Zhang Liecheng had always followed one of Zhang Zhao's basic principles: never mind whether he is willing or not — twist the melon off the vine first, and worry about the rest later.

And just after they left, an even larger flood struck Hua, Tong, and the surrounding prefectures once again.

In Hezhong Prefecture, the hardest hit, the number of refugees whose homes had been destroyed by the flood and left homeless alone reached twelve thousand households, over seventy thousand people in all.

At the end of the ninth month, the Later Jin court dispatched commissioners to press for the payment of grain and money. They arrived at the four military provinces of Hezhong Huguo Army, Huazhou Zhenguo Army, Tongzhou Kuangguo Army, and Yaozhou Shunyi Army, to demand the still-unpaid autumn tax of two hundred ten thousand shi.

But only after the commissioners reached the four military provinces did they discover —

It was over! These fellows had already collected taxes twenty years in advance. There was no more grease to be scraped off the poor wretches.

Not to mention the common people — even the wealthy households had essentially been cleaned out.

The great rural clans that by luck still had some grain simply mobilized their entire clans and resorted to desperate measures: breaching the river dikes to flood the roads, and rolling boulders down from the mountains to block the passes, cutting off all contact between themselves and the court.

In barely a year's time, east of Chang'an and west of Luoyang, natural disaster compounded by man-made catastrophe of a doubly intensified kind swept through like a hurricane, utterly scouring every commoner from the region.

The only ones who could survive were the families of officials and officers and certain local great clans. Even the prefectures and counties around the eastern capital of Kaifeng saw widespread famine.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhao could only hand over the relocation of the Long family and the Ganzhou Uyghurs to Zhang Xichong to oversee, while he himself hurried to Qinzhou to take personal command. He also ordered Liu Zaisheng to move troops to seize control of Tanzheng Gorge and make ready to receive the refugees.

He further ordered Wu Ying'er, the elder brother of Wu Guo'er — who had by now largely thrown in his lot with the Liang state — and the Later Jin Prefect of Weizhou, to come forward and negotiate with Liu Jingyan, the Military Governor of Binning, to have him send troops to escort the refugees through Binzhou and Ningzhou, northwest toward Hexi.

Liu Jingyan was a man of Yanzhou, and the Zhangwu Army of Yanzhou had long since fallen under Zhang Zhao's control. He did not dare offend Zhang Zhao, so he could only comply.

From this point on, the two routes by which refugees could enter Hexi were set.

One went through Binzhou and Ningzhou, to the Liang state's Yuanzhou.

The other passed through Chang'an and Fengxiang, to the Liang state's Qin, Wei, He, and other prefectures.

As for Zhang Zhao's large-scale recruitment of refugees into Hexi, the officials and common people throughout the Later Jin's Guanzhong saw it with their own eyes, yet not a single one reported it to the Later Jin court.

Because they all understood one truth: Great King Zhang was saving lives.

At the same time, the wrangling between the Later Jin's grain commissioners and the four military governors of Huazhou and the other prefectures had come to an end. The four provinces together contributed ninety thousand shi of grain, which counted as giving the court some face.

In truth, these commissioners had been sent to the four provinces not only to press for taxes and grain, but also with another task: to supervise the four provinces' relief of the disaster victims.

Seeing how things stood, they all very wisely did not so much as mention the matter. They hurriedly took the ninety thousand shi of grain down the Yellow River and went to report completion of their mission.

In the tenth month, Shi Chonggui issued an edict from the palace, promoting Sang Weihan to Acting Grand Tutor and Chief Minister.

He was commended for, in a year of great disaster, not only failing to come up short on tax collection, but actually collecting over a hundred thousand shi more in autumn taxes than expected.

What Shi Chonggui did not know — or pretended not to know — was that after the reshuffling wrought by this great disaster, the Later Jin's foundation of rule among the common people had been utterly destroyed.

The entire Central Plains had completely become a situation of joint rule between the central court and the local military strongmen.

In the preceding two dynasties of the Five Dynasties period — Liang and Tang — central authority had never declined to such a degree.

Sang Weihan, too, was riding high. Not only had he collected the autumn taxes and won Shi Chonggui's favor, he had also taken the opportunity to enrich himself, accepting bribes so widely that within the space of a year he had amassed a fortune of ten thousand strings of cash.

This drove Feng Yu — the elder brother of Empress Feng, the aunt of Shi Chonggui — mad with envy. From then on, Feng Yu began incessantly attacking Sang Weihan before Shi Chonggui.

Amid the gathering storm, an internal power struggle was about to unfold.

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