Chapter 499: How Many Filial Sons There Are in This World

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Zhang Zhao had already held his oath-taking ceremony and marched out of the pass, but in the eastern capital, Yelu Deguang still had no definite news of it.

The reason it was not definite news was that even Liu Zhiyuan's side was not very clear on when Zhang Zhao would send out his troops; they had only roughly analyzed it as being in the seventh or eighth month.

Guanzhong is a land of strategic terrain, and that is no empty phrase. Once Hangu Pass, Wu Pass, Tong Pass, and Fengling Ford are sealed off, it truly feels cut off from the rest of the world.

Moreover, with Zhang Zhao also controlling Fuzhou, it was even easier to block the flow of news.

Yelu Deguang frowned. Although he had finally waited for Liu Zhiyuan to send someone to pay court, in his heart, Brother Guang still felt very uneasy.

Because Wang Jun, whom Liu Zhiyuan had sent, had not uttered a single word of submission from beginning to end, and had even hinted that after Yelu Deguang entered the Central Plains, he had failed to promptly reward the troops and officers of Hedong.

What was Liu Zhiyuan thinking? The more Yelu Deguang thought about it, the angrier he grew.

Not holding you accountable for twice killing and wounding the soldiers of my Great Liao was already generous enough, and yet you still dare ask for rewards, still want largesse? What, should I split the spoils of the grass-cutting raids with you?

At this thought, Yelu Deguang withheld the walking staff he had originally prepared to bestow on Liu Zhiyuan. In the Liao state, that staff was the equivalent of an imperial sword of authority.

Originally, Brother Guang had also prepared that if Liu Zhiyuan proved sensible, he would not have minded acknowledging an old godson. Now, hmph!

However, during these days of cold-shouldering Wang Jun, the evil fruits of Yelu Deguang's indulgence of Khitan grass-cutting raids in the Central Plains began to show.

First, the bandit commander Liang Hui of Chanzhou and others began attacking Khitan troops and horses everywhere. This man had several hundred elite cavalry under him, all of them crack Jin riders who had fled the army after Du Chongwei knelt in surrender.

They knew the terrain, did not fear Khitan cavalry, and with the common people everywhere sheltering them, they at once became a terrible headache for the Khitans, even beginning to threaten the pontoon bridge at Baima Ford.

Immediately after, Bozhou and Chenzhou, which had lost the restraint of their Military Governor and had been subjected to Khitan grass-cutting raids, saw Later Jin yabing guards rise in revolt.

They seized the Bozhou area and even gathered a host of several thousand to besiege Songzhou. Had there not been more than a thousand Khitan soldiers inside the prefectural city, the people of Songzhou would likely have joined the rebellion as well.

Within a few days, Hucile, the Military Governor of Wuning Army in Xuzhou, who had already confirmed his allegiance to the Southern Tang, began sending out roaming cavalry to harass the Danzhou and Caozhou areas, and also allocated money and grain to support the righteous armies around Bozhou.

These were only the more influential cases. As for the village militia bands and the righteous armies organized by low-ranking officers in various places, they were beyond counting.

The Khitans, who had originally been able to plunder everywhere even with just a dozen or so riders, now no longer dared to go down into the countryside without at least fifty riders.

Yelu Deguang was both loath to give up the gains from the grass-cutting raids and eager to quell the flames of popular resistance, so he hypocritically summoned Feng Dao and asked him, "How can the people of the realm be saved?"

This shamelessness made even Feng Dao feel somewhat nauseated. The old tumbler who had survived decades of upheaval could not help but offer a sarcastic remark.

"At this moment, even if the Buddha himself were alive, he could not save the people. Only the Emperor can save them."

Yelu Deguang fell silent upon hearing this, and from then on never again asked Feng Dao about affairs of state. Feng Dao, for his part, was glad to hurry back and continue being the old tumbler who heard nothing of the world outside his window.

But after this, matters grew worse by the day. By the end of the tenth month, even Liao Han officials such as Zhang Li and Zhao Yanshou could no longer stand by, and came forward one after another to remonstrate. Yelu Deguang therefore became inclined to rein in his troops somewhat.

Zhao Yanshou seized the chance to advise Yelu Deguang to release the various Military Governors who were being held under what amounted to house arrest, letting them return to their garrisons to pacify the troops and exterminate the bandits.

Yelu Deguang also felt this made sense and began preparing to send the various Military Governors back. Before that, however, he first prepared to station Khitan troops and officers along the line of the Yellow River, to make ready for defending against Zhang Zhao's eastward advance.

Zhao Kuangzan stood just behind Zhao Yanshou. Yelu Deguang was quite fond of this son of the Prince of Yan, who had inherited his father's handsome looks and was accomplished at a young age.

At that moment, Zhao Kuangzan suddenly sensed that this was a perfect opportunity. He clasped his hands, stepped out from among the assembled Khitan and Han ministers, and said to Yelu Deguang:

"If one wishes to block the Liang army's eastward advance, the most suitable places are these three: the Huguo Army Military Governor seat in Hezhong east of the great river, the Baoyi Army Military Governor seat in Shanzhou, and the Heyang Three Garrisons Military Governor seat near Luoyang.

And among them, the territory of the Huguo Army Military Governor in Hezhong controls and chokes the great river, possesses the natural defenses of mountains and rivers, and is ground contested by every strategist.

Though I am young, before submitting to the superior state, I once served as Military Governor of nearby Huazhou. Among the troops under my command there are even officers and soldiers of Hezhong origin. Because I am familiar with the terrain of Hezhong, I am willing to hold it firmly for Your Majesty and await the heavenly host."

Zhao Yanshou frowned, sensing something was wrong. He knew very well what Zhao Kuangzan's private attitude toward the Khitans was, so how could the boy possibly volunteer to go serve the Khitans?

"You still smell of your mother's milk. How dare you speak of military and state affairs before His Majesty? Withdraw at once!"

Zhao Yanshou put on a stern face and harshly scolded Zhao Kuangzan, even waving his hand to make him withdraw quickly.

Yelu Deguang, however, laughed heartily. "A newborn calf fears no tiger. Since he has a heart to render service, he should be rewarded! Tell me, if you go to Hezhong, how would you defend against the Liang army?"

Zhao Kuangzan ignored his father Zhao Yanshou's reproachful gaze and, looking at Yelu Deguang's chest, answered:

"Hezhong city overlooks the great river, its towers and battlements are intact, the Pujin Ford pontoon bridge links north and south, and there is also the Pujin Pass water fortress to serve as its guard.

Once I arrive, I will select brave men, stretch iron chains across the river, build forts and stockades along the banks, and hold fast without sallying forth. Relying solely on the natural defenses of mountains and rivers, I can block the Liang army.

By the time Your Majesty's great army arrives, the Liang army will already be a weary force. What difficulty would there be in smashing it?"

Hearing this, Yelu Deguang praised him even more. Zhang Li, the Liao Han minister who had once served as Secretary to Zhao Kuangzan's grandfather, also nodded in approval and offered his counsel to Yelu Deguang:

"General of the Golden Insignia has garrisoned the Hezhong and Huazhou area and is familiar with its geography and people. If he were supported by two thousand men of the Zhangguo Army, he could surely hold Pujin Pass and block the great army of the Liang state on the western side."

The Zhangguo Army was the Han force that Han Derang's family had trained for Yelu Deguang. Unlike the yabing guards of the Zhao family's Lulong Army, the Zhangguo Army soldiers had been trained from the ground up in the Liao state, their families were all in Liao territory, and among them were a certain number of Xi people. Their loyalty was beyond question.

Yelu Deguang nodded at these words and at once felt that sending Zhao Kuangzan to garrison Hezhong was indeed a good idea.

"Order Zhang Lian, Infantry Commander of the Zhangguo Army, to proceed with two thousand men in company with Zhao of the Golden Insignia, and hold Hezhong Prefecture."

Although Zhao Yanshou felt in his heart that something was amiss, Zhao Kuangzan was after all his son, and he could hardly go to Yelu Deguang and say his own son was unreliable.

He could only continue saying that Zhao Kuangzan was still young and lacked the ability to bear such responsibility alone, so that if anything went wrong in the future, he, Zhao Yanshou, could clear himself of suspicion.

Yelu Deguang would never have dreamed that Zhao Kuangzan was not of one mind with his father Zhao Yanshou.

Moreover, Zhao Kuangzan was already twenty-two years old, and no matter how one looked at it, he could not be described as still young.

He simply took it that Zhao Yanshou did not want Zhao Kuangzan to go into danger, and so remained unmoved, still sending Zhao Kuangzan to Hezhong.

That night, with Yelu Deguang's permission, Zhao Kuangzan was like a bird escaping its cage. He at once spent his own money to invite Zhang Lian, the Commander of the Zhangguo Army, and the other officers to a feast, and also gave the entire Zhangguo Army a bolt of silk cloth each as a reward.

Spurred on by these incentives, the next day the entire force left the eastern capital at extreme speed and flew toward Hezhong.

Hezhong Prefecture is the later Puzhou Town of Yongji County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province. In later times this city was utterly obscure; even Yuncheng City itself has little presence.

But in ancient times, especially in the Tang dynasty, when bridge-building technology was still immature, Hezhong Prefecture held a very high status along the Yellow River.

Along the Yellow River, in Tang times it was second only to Luoyang, and for a period it even served as a kind of secondary capital of the Tang. Even now, its status was only slightly lower than Luoyang and Kaifeng.

Zhao Kuangzan brought five hundred men himself: a small portion were Lulong Army yabing guards unwilling to keep selling their lives for the Khitans, and the majority were old followers he had originally brought with him to the Khitan.

Zhang Lian, Commander of the Zhangguo Army, was a tall, lean man who had been carried off to the grasslands by the Khitans when he was only a few years old. Most of the Zhangguo Army's soldiers had similar experiences.

For the Khitan incursions south did not begin in Shi Jingtang's time; they had begun their frequent harassment as early as the reign of Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang.

Over the course of twenty or thirty years, it was hard to say whether Han people like Zhang Lian, abducted in childhood, were still Han or had become Khitan. Among them there even emerged families such as the Geng Chongmei, Cui Yanxun, and Khotan Han clans.

Puzhou City in Hezhong Prefecture sits on the east bank of the Yellow River. To its northwest is the Pujin Bridge, currently the largest pontoon bridge on the Yellow River, and looking west, the Stork Tower and Puzhou City face each other from afar.

The city fronts a river and backs onto hills, paved with blue stone and walled with rammed earth. The walls average over six meters high and more than a meter wide; mules and horses can pass along the top, and the circuit is over ten li.

Outside the city, a water fortress and military stockade has been built along the river, able to support the main city, and for five li beyond the walls there are no tall trees, so the field of view is extremely wide.

When Zhang Lian and Zhao Kuangzan arrived beneath the walls of Puzhou, they could not help drawing a sharp breath. To storm such a formidable city by force, they would not even dream of taking the outer wall without three to five months.

The Military Governor of Hezhong had originally been Hou Yi, another old man of Daibei, who had come up through Li Keyong's military school.

In former years, when Emperor Zhuangzong was abandoned by all and trapped in Luoyang, Hou Yi, upon hearing of it, slipped away from Li Siyuan's force in the night and, alone through hardship and danger, resolutely returned to Li Cunxu's side, becoming one of the Thirteen Loyalists of Xingjiao Gate.

It is only a pity that Hou Yi, loyal, righteous, and brave in his youth, grew petty and scheming in old age, seeking only wealth and rank, no longer possessing the heroic spirit of a You-Bing gallant of his younger days.

He colluded with Meng Shu in hopes of gaining wealth and rank, and after Yelu Deguang entered the Eastern Capital, Hou Yi even brought his eldest son in person to pay court there.

He also told Yelu Deguang that he had never taken part in any battle against the Liao state, speaking with the utmost deference, and for this Yelu Deguang issued a special edict exempting Hou Yi from the court tribute money.

Perhaps, after Li Cunxu died at Xingjiao Gate, that loyal, brave, righteous Hou Yi who had returned alone across a thousand li had already died as well.

Hou Yi had gone to the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture, to pay court, and Puzhou was for the time being controlled by his son, the Acting Commander of the Huguo Army, Hou Renbao.

Seeing Zhao Kuangzan arrive with twenty-five hundred men, Hou Renbao hurriedly welcomed them into the city.

After Zhao Kuangzan took Zhang Lian and Hou Renbao on an inspection tour of the area, he quietly pulled Zhang Lian aside.

"Puzhou is divided into a water city and a land city. If the Liang Kingdom comes west and intends to descend directly on the Eastern Capital, it must rely on the advantage of water transport along the Great River.

Acting Military Governor Hou is a man of Jin and cannot necessarily be trusted. For safety's sake, it would be better for the two of us each to hold one stockade."

Zhang Lian nodded, though he was somewhat troubled. By rights, he had been sent by Yelu Deguang to assist Zhao Kuangzan, so Zhao Kuangzan ought to hold Puzhou while he went to hold the water city.

But Zhang Lian and his men were all northerners, and had been carried off to the great desert grasslands when young. They were complete landlubbers, and asking him to hold the water city was truly beyond his strength.

Zhao Kuangzan saw Zhang Lian's difficulty and said dismissively, "Why should the Commander be troubled? We are all serving His Majesty, and there should be no distinction between host and guest.

I ask only that the Commander assign me five hundred men. You keep an eye on Hou Renbao and hold Puzhou, while I go to the water city myself. How does that sound?"

An embarrassed expression appeared on Zhang Lian's face, and he cupped his hands with some gratitude.

"Zhao Jinwu is righteous indeed. I truly am unskilled in water warfare, so I thank you here."

Zhao Kuangzan seized the chance to say, "Still, for the next few days, I must trouble Commander Zhang to hold the water city.

Over a hundred of my officers and men are natives of Hezhong. They have not returned home in several years, and lately their hearts are restless. I must go in person to settle them, and also arrange for their families to be brought over."

Zhang Lian nodded, a knowing smile appearing on his face. Zhao Kuangzan's request seemed perfectly reasonable.

Having come all the way to Hezhong Prefecture, if the yabing guards were not even allowed to see their families, serious trouble might well break out.

"Zhao Jinwu, go as you please. Though my water skills are poor, holding out for five or ten days is no problem."

As the grandson of the Prince of Beiping, Zhao Dejun, and the nephew of the Later Tang Emperor Mingzong, Li Siyuan, Zhao Kuangzan had grown up in the Luoyang palace and was a third-generation power with wide-ranging connections.

Although Zhao Kuangzan and Hou Renbao were eight years apart in age, their friendship had always been quite good.

So Zhao Kuangzan had a very clear grasp of Hou Renbao's character.

As for Hou Renbao, his ability could only be called passable. He was a competent scion of a military family—not outstanding, but not poor either. His temperament was somewhat impulsive, but he could still distinguish right from wrong.

All the way from the Eastern Capital, with Zhang Lian and the others at his side, Zhao Kuangzan had found it inconvenient to send a messenger to contact his father-in-law, Zhang Zhao.

Now that he had finally sent Zhang Lian away at Puzhou, Zhao Kuangzan dispatched a man with word while going directly to visit Hou Renbao.

The importance of Puzhou in Hezhong was actually even greater than what Zhao Kuangzan had described to Yelu Deguang.

Since the pre-Qin era, whenever a power in Guanzhong sought to march troops into the Central Plains, Puzhou had been one of the most critical places.

Especially now, the area along the river had been struck by the three disasters of flood, drought, and locusts, plus man-made calamity, and the inhabitants had nearly all fled, making supplies extremely hard to obtain.

Thus relying on the Yellow River to transport grain, fodder, and baggage had become almost the only option.

If Zhang Zhao occupied Hezhong, he could use it as a rear base and sweep down the river to thrash the Liao army.

Without Hezhong, Zhang Zhao would be blocked west of Puzhou and forced to gnaw at this extremely strategic Yellow River fortress.

So Zhao Kuangzan's plan from the very start had not been to go directly to Guanzhong to join him, but to take Hezhong and present it to Zhang Zhao.

Hou Renbao's feelings toward Zhao Kuangzan were complicated, because the Zhao family was too deeply entangled with the Khitan.

As a member of the Daibei military elite, ever since Yelu Abaoji broke faith and violated his pact with Li Keyong, the Daibei military elite had not felt well disposed toward the Khitan.

Zhao Kuangzan saw the constipated look on Hou Renbao's face, chuckled to himself without speaking, and headed straight for the inner residence of the Hou household.

"Where is Sister Wu? Is she in good health? In former years, did she not say she would marry her younger sister to me? Where is young Wu?"

At these words, Hou Renbao's face suddenly darkened. "Your Sister Wu passed away at the beginning of the year, together with young Wu. A flash flood struck their old home and swept away the villa. No bodies were ever found."

A shocked expression appeared on Zhao Kuangzan's face, and for a long while he said nothing. He looked at Hou Renbao, and tears seemed to glimmer in his eyes.

"May I ask if Sister's spirit tablet is here? Allow your younger brother to offer a stick of incense. In former years in the Eastern Capital, I was greedy with my mouth and ate no small amount of the food Sister prepared. Young Wu was gentle and refined even then, with the bearing of a great lady. I never imagined she would meet such misfortune."

In the mournful atmosphere, the distance between the two men suddenly closed, as if they had returned to the days when they had fooled around together.

In the rear residence of the Hou household, Zhao Kuangzan solemnly and sorrowfully offered a stick of incense to Hou Renbao's wife, Lady Wu. Then a hesitant look appeared on his face, followed by a long sigh, and he looked at Hou Renbao and spoke.

"I must tell you, Elder Brother, that this visit of mine actually has another scheme behind it. I had intended to keep it from you, but before Sister's spirit, I cannot bear to utter any falsehood or profane her."

Hou Renbao stared at Zhao Kuangzan for a long while, then said dryly, "If you have come to persuade your foolish elder brother to submit to the Khitan Liao state, there is no need to say more.

My father has already gone to the Eastern Capital Prefecture. What more does the Khitan lord have to worry about?

Must the entire Hou family, old and young, go to the Eastern Capital to be placed under house arrest before he is satisfied?"

Seeing that Hou Renbao did not seem to be feigning, Zhao Kuangzan was inwardly delighted, and at once put on a somewhat angry expression.

"Who does Elder Brother take me, Zhao Mei, for? Though my surname is Zhao, the blood of His Majesty of the Ming Temple of the Later Court still flows in my veins. Would a scion of the imperial line ever kneel to barbarian invaders?"

Hou Renbao could not quite make out Zhao Kuangzan's game, and said hesitantly, "Do not take offense, Dalang. If you are not here to urge me to go to the Eastern Capital, then what other matter is there?

Surely you have not come to ask your elder brother to rise in revolt with these three thousand soldiers?"

Zhao Kuangzan gave Hou Renbao a half-smiling, half-serious look. "Before Sister's spirit, why does Elder Brother need to ask me? Do you truly not know that there has already been a change in Guanzhong?"

Hou Renbao's expression became extremely grave. He strode out the door, drove the guards at the entrance out into the courtyard, and only then returned and looked at Zhao Kuangzan as he spoke.

"Since Dalang asks, I will be frank. His Highness King Zhang did indeed send someone to see me, but my father is still in the Eastern Capital, and I do not know what aspirations King Zhang holds, so I said nothing."

Zhao Kuangzan drew a deep breath and looked at Hou Renbao. "In former years, at Mawei Slope, I met King Zhang once, and I know his character well.

His adopted son, Lord Xinchang, is my fifteenth uncle by marriage. Moreover, King Zhang has a daughter—not of his blood, but raised as his eldest daughter—whom he has honored me by betrothing to me. So King Zhang is in truth my father-in-law."

The Heavenly Dao turns in cycles, and the aura of kingship shifts. The kingly aura of us Hedong warriors has been nearly destroyed by the Shi clan's treason of selling out the state for their own glory.

Hedong grows poorer by the day; it is time for a king to rise from Hexi.

My father-in-law is a man of great talent and bold vision, and moreover a lord of benevolence and righteousness. Under his command are a hundred thousand fierce lions, and the iron cavalry of Western Liang is matchless in valor.

The Liao sovereign Yaogu has invaded the Central Plains three times. First defeated at Qicheng, then defeated again at Yangcheng, he fled in panic through Hebei and only saved his life by seizing a camel.

Had it not been for the shameless capitulation of men like Du Chongwei and Li Shouzhen, how could he ever have entered the Central Plains?

After that, he again loosed the barbarian cavalry to plunder the countryside everywhere, stirring up heroes in all directions to rise together.

He even placed under house arrest the military governors who came to court. How can he compare with King Zhang?

If you, elder brother, could rely on the natural defenses of Hezhong to submit to the Liang Kingdom, you would both save the common people of the world and store up hidden virtue for your descendants, while also gaining high office and generous emoluments to bless your posterity. Would that not be splendid?"

Hou Renbao's eyes went wide. He had not expected that Zhao Kuangzan had actually become the son-in-law of King Zhang of Hexi.

Why had he previously been unimpressed by the brocade-clad envoys from the Liang Kingdom? Was it not simply because the Liang Kingdom had no place for him, Hou Renbao?

If he surrendered the city and still received no important appointment, then why should he take the risk?

Moreover, his father's elder brother was still in the Eastern Capital. If he surrendered the city, could his father and uncle still keep their lives?

But now that Zhao Kuangzan had become King Zhang's son-in-law, with this connection and the surrender of Hezhong, as the saying goes, when one has someone at court, it is easy to hold office. How could a merit of following the dragon and establishing the dynasty possibly escape him?

"Alas, my father and elder brother are still in the Eastern Capital. If I surrendered the city and harmed the lives of my closest kin, would I not become an unfilial and rebellious son!"

Hou Renbao pondered for a long while, still somewhat hesitant.

"Elder brother, have you not heard that loyalty and filial piety are hard to have both at once? Surrendering Hezhong to King Zhang and driving out the northern caitiffs is the greatest loyalty. And saving the people trampled by the Khitan is the greatest benevolence.

If all the heroes of the world were bound by the character for filial piety, then who would serve the state with loyalty?

Surely Uncle Hou would understand. Besides, the Khitan sovereign may not necessarily kill them."

Having said this, a strange expression appeared on Zhao Kuangzan's face. With a somewhat complicated look, he said in a low voice to Hou Renbao, "My own father is also in the Eastern Capital."

Hou Renbao was stunned, then suddenly remembered—right! Was Zhao Kuangzan's father, Zhao Yanshou, not also in the Eastern Capital?

The two exchanged another glance, and suddenly discovered that in each other's eyes there flickered the light of "filial piety."

This...!

Since they were both filial sons, then there was no problem!

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