Chapter 486: A Treasure Belonging to Zhang Zhao Alone

What does it mean to win? To win twice, even — just look at Feng Dao.

He first went to Liu Tao's residence and spent an hour in front of Zhang Liecheng, then went back to see Shi Chonggui.

Returning to Daning Palace, Feng Dao's haggard face and somewhat red, swollen eyes, combined with a face that looked naturally upright and honest,

immediately gave off the image of a great loyal minister devoted utterly to his country.

Without a single word, Shi Chonggui could feel Feng Dao's toil.

Under the anxious emperor's longing gaze, Feng Dao threw himself down before Shi Chonggui and said:

"Your servant has finished discussions with the Liang envoy Zhang Liecheng. The Liang state's bottom line is this: of the four great conditions, if Your Majesty agrees to two, the Heavenly King Zhang will be willing to send troops."

Shi Chonggui paced back and forth, muttering to himself, "Guanzhong absolutely cannot be ceded. Lady Wang the Consort Shu is Brother Yi's foster mother and Fifteen's birth mother, and she is in the Western Capital, Henan Prefecture (Luoyang), keeping the sacrifices of the Later Tang.

How could there be a Son of Heaven who gives his own grand-aunt away to outsiders? It seems I can only agree to the latter two conditions."

"Your Majesty is wise. Your servant will go make arrangements at once." The moment Shi Chonggui finished speaking, Feng Dao hurriedly offered up his flattery.

In any case, whatever choice Shi Chonggui made was of no consequence. Feng Dao only needed to help Zhang Zhao resolve the moral justification for sending troops into Guanzhong and win the favor of this Great King of Liang.

Under Shi Chonggui's earnest, expectant gaze, Feng Dao had barely left Daning Palace and walked a short distance before he was stopped by an old acquaintance.

He Ning, Vice Director of the Secretariat, had planted himself directly on the road Feng Dao had to take back to his residence.

"Feng Youdao, you've got some nerve, deceiving the Son of Heaven!"

Cold sweat broke out on Feng Dao's head as he listened. He hurried over and clapped a hand over He Ning's mouth, and disregarding the dignity of a chief minister, dragged He Ning, a fellow chief minister, into a dark corner of the street.

"Hmph!" He Ning snorted coldly. "Zhang Yanze has troops stationed in Weizhou and can cross the Yellow River at any moment. It's a matter of days at most, yet you dare to claim that the Hedong troops and Hexi troops can come to the rescue.

Only a Son of Heaven shut up deep in the palace would believe an old man like you!"

Feng Dao could only bow repeatedly, pleading without pause, "Spare me, Old Man He! Spare me, Old Man He!"

This "old man" here is not the later meaning of "father," but rather "old fellow," "elder."

He Ning set his face hard. "You old man, you've got no loyalty at all. You only think of currying favor with that Heavenly King of Hexi for yourself, and never think of pulling your old brother along."

Only then did Feng Dao understand that He Ning had come to demand a share of the spoils. Now that someone had him by the throat, Feng Dao could only admit defeat.

"What do you want? Say it quickly. If Zhang Yanze enters the city, it will all be too late."

"Lend me twenty stout fellows from your household. Then you go to the palace and say that I, He Ning, can serve as envoy and go to Liangzhou to fetch reinforcements."

He Ning stated his conditions, but Feng Dao was somewhat puzzled.

Even if He Ning wanted a share of the spoils, he could simply take a share of the credit. Why go out of the city at all?

He Ning stopped joking with Feng Dao, and his expression turned grave.

"I do not trust the Khitan, and even less do I trust that beast Zhang Yanze. Rather than keep gambling and groveling in the Eastern Capital, I would sooner go serve the King of Liang."

When He Ning called Zhang Yanze a beast, he did not mean only that the man's defection to the Khitan made him scum, but also that Zhang Yanze had always been a brutal, treacherous dog.

When his brutality flared, he would casually cut open people's bellies, hack off hands and feet, and the like. When it came to killing, whether his own son or a trusted confidant, he could bring himself to do it.

That was why He Ning did not dare gamble that Zhang Yanze would not come looking for trouble with him after entering the Eastern Capital.

Feng Dao looked at He Ning with concern. "This journey to Hexi is a thousand li. Besides, we only know the King of Liang's temperament by hearsay. What if we get to Hexi and he too proves a cruel master? What then?"

Feng Dao's worry was natural. To people of their level, Zhang Zhao's reputation for benevolence and righteousness held little appeal; rather, it made them afraid.

Because they all knew that a reputation for benevolence was basically manufactured. The ones who could truly live up to the word "benevolent" would have to be the likes of Emperor Renzong of Song or Emperor Xiaozong of Ming.

But those two were plainly soft-hearted in a womanly way, and far too indulgent of their subordinates.

Such a character could never accomplish anything great. At the very most, he would be no more than a Heavenly King Fu.

Although Feng Dao did not know of Emperor Renzong of Song or Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, since they had not yet appeared, he did know what a ruler truly praised by all, and praised only for his benevolence, would look like.

So it was obvious that Zhang Zhao, who had risen from a single old servant and one cousin to his present position, could not possibly be the benevolent lord he appeared to be.

Or one might say, Zhang Zhao might indeed be very benevolent, but that benevolence was built upon something unfathomable.

Whether he would be benevolent to people like Feng Dao and He Ning — that was entirely unknown.

So Feng Dao would rather wait in the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture, sell a favor, and wait for things to settle slowly, than rashly throw in his lot with Zhang Zhao.

However, He Ning had one more channel of information than Feng Dao: he had remained in contact with Fan Zhi all along, and so knew Zhang Zhao better than Feng Dao did.

So He Ning told Feng Dao what he knew, and he also gave his own judgment.

"The King of Liang has long wanted to enter the Central Plains, but has suffered from a lack of pretext. So I do not believe he can sit quietly in Liangzhou while the Jin and Liao states are locked in such fierce battle.

Very likely he is already in Qinzhou or Yuanzhou, eyeing the situation like a tiger. If I go now and offer my allegiance in the capacity of a chief minister of the Central Plains, I will surely be given important office."

Feng Dao nodded. He had to admit that He Ning's words made a great deal of sense. It was more aggressive than his own approach, but the returns were also greater.

"I will go to the palace at once and speak to the Son of Heaven. But the Secretariat must agree to one request of mine."

He Ning cupped his hands toward Feng Dao. "Please, Lord Youdao, speak."

"My second son, Feng Ji, is frivolous and shallow. If he remains in the Eastern Capital, he is likely to cause trouble. I ask the Secretariat to take him along on the journey to Hexi."

Feng Dao's second son, Feng Ji, did indeed have a very restless temperament, somewhat too unrestrained.

But he had already withdrawn to the Feng family's mountain stronghold, so it was hard to say what trouble he could still cause. Thus Feng Dao's real motive was to avoid putting all his eggs in one basket.

He Ning would of course agree to such a thing. For the scholar-officials of this age, and even the few great clans that remained, making such a choice was entirely normal.

Seeing He Ning agree, a ruthless look suddenly appeared on Feng Dao's face, the same one he had worn that night when negotiating with Zhang Liecheng. He took a few steps closer to He Ning, then said in a low voice:

"The former dynasty's Prince Xu, Congyi, is in the Western Capital, Henan Prefecture. He is the last remaining member of the Great Tang imperial clan. The King of Liang has always styled himself a Tang subject. If you bring Prince Xu to Liangzhou, the King of Liang will have a banner with which to command men's hearts. That is a great deed of merit.

Prince Xu's foster mother, Lady Wang, known as 'Flower-Shaming Beauty,' is a rare beauty. If you also bring Lady Wang to Liangzhou and have the King of Liang become Prince Xu's adoptive father, that is another great deed of merit.

With these two great deeds, plus the merit of your allegiance, the He clan may become hereditary ministers and nobles of the new dynasty."

He Ning looked at Feng Dao seriously, then slowly nodded, gaining a clearer appreciation of Feng Dao's insight into worldly affairs.

Prince Xu, Li Congyi, in anyone else's hands, would be of no use at all.

Shi Jingtang enfeoffed Li Congyi as Duke of Xun, allowing him to keep the sacrifices of the former Tang ancestral temple, entirely out of regard for Li Congyi being his wife's younger brother.

But for Zhang Zhao of Hexi, Li Congyi's significance was enormous, because although Li Keyong's family were the the Shatuo, they had been entered into the imperial clan genealogy as far back as the Xiantong reign of Emperor Yizong of the great dynasty.

According to the clan law of this time, from that point on, Li Keyong was a legitimate member of the Tang imperial clan.

And although Li Siyuan was not Li Keyong's biological son, by the conventions of this time, he was still acknowledged as Li Keyong's son.

Thus Li Congyi, Li Siyuan's only surviving son, became Li Keyong's only surviving grandson.

On a grander scale, Li Congyi was the only surviving bloodline of the Great Tang imperial house that approximated direct descent.

For Zhang Zhao, this identity was of immense use. Whether for the great cause of righteous legitimacy, the long-cherished wish of returning to the homeland, or the banner of loyalty and righteousness, Li Congyi's presence was indispensable — the final piece that would complete Zhang Zhao's reputation for loyalty.

Even better, Li Congyi had long since lost his state, and Feng Dao had moreover arranged for He Ning to bring along his adoptive mother, Hua Jianxiu.

If Great King Zhang simply took Hua Jianxiu as his consort and had Li Congyi address Zhang Zhao as father, then the question of how the imperial mandate passed from the Li Tang to the Zhang Liang would be all too easily resolved.

With such a great merit, the He clan in the future new dynasty could indeed be said to have generations of high office beyond any doubt.

He Ning said nothing more, but seized Feng Dao by the arm.

"If the He clan becomes high officials, the Feng clan shall be high officials as well. These two merits, I will never claim alone."

The two had just finished their discussion and were about to leave when they saw a man run from afar to the gate of Daning Palace, kowtowing repeatedly.

And this was no feigned kowtow — he truly struck his head against the ground, raising clouds of dust, the thudding sounds accompanied by drops of blood splattering in all directions.

"The crisis is upon us! I beg you to open the gate and see me. If the old minister is sent north at this moment, there may yet be room to turn things around!"

When Feng Dao and He Ning looked, the man kowtowing and shouting was none other than Sang Weihan.

The two felt both alarm and a measure of guilt. He Ning said with a grim face, "Yesterday Sang Guoqiao went to see Feng Yu, but he shut his gate and refused him entry."

Feng Dao slowly nodded. The two watched from a distance as Sang Weihan kowtowed and wept outside Daning Palace, but in the end, the palace gate never opened. It seemed Shi Chonggui deeply resented Sang Weihan for once having supported Shi Chongrui, and would not see him.

Sang Weihan wept and pleaded for two quarters of an hour. Raising his head, he saw Feng Dao and He Ning in the distance. In anguish, he raised his face to the sky and sighed, "The Great Jin is finished!" Then, utterly dejected, he walked away.

Feng Dao immediately said to He Ning, "Master He, please leave the capital at once. Delay, and there will be trouble."

Poor Hua Jianxiu and Li Congyi — they were simply sitting at home when disaster fell from the sky.

Though in truth it was not so bad, because if things followed the course of history, Hua Jianxiu would first be forced into Yelu Deguang's bed, but in the end, because of her age, Yelu Deguang would use her and cast her aside, and finally she would be cruelly killed by Liu Zhiyuan along with Li Congyi.

Now she could be with the young and vigorous Great King Zhang — far better than being with the old man Yelu Deguang and then being discarded.

Meanwhile, Murong Xinzhang's mission in Chang'an was also nearly complete.

And he had no need at all to see An Yanwei, for An Yanwei was already gravely ill and essentially unable to handle affairs. Everything, internal and external, was being sustained by his two sons.

An Yanwei was loyal to Shi Chonggui, but his two sons did not see it that way, and so they quickly struck a deal with Murong Xinzhang.

For fifty thousand strings of Hexi rock sugar, brocades, and other goods, they sold the Jinchang Army and the city of Chang'an. They needed only to wait for Zhang Zhao's troops to arrive, and they would submit.

And with the Military Governor of the Zhangyi Army at Jingyuan, Princess Yongle's efforts had also gone fairly smoothly.

Though Li Decong had not said so openly, he too was already old and weary, with no mind to manage too many affairs.

Princess Yongle had also bought off the sons and grandsons around Li Decong, and they all agreed to submit. With this, the obstacles to Zhang Zhao's entry into Guanzhong were essentially eliminated.

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