Chapter 529: Hearts of Men, Brotherly Deference, and the Shu Troops Have Come Too

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Hexi, Liangzhou. Ever since Zhang Zhao had gone out on campaign, the atmosphere across the Hexi region had remained tense.

The left-behind Right Chief Minister Song Shantong, the old Guiyi Army general Luo Tongda, and Zhang Zhao's trusted men Liu Na, Cao Yanming, and others, all acted according to Zhang Zhao's orders.

They had the Fengtian Queen Dowager of the Liang Kingdom, together with the queen Cao Yanxi, bring Zhang Zhao's only legitimate son, the two-year-old Zhang Xianming, to court to handle all affairs of the realm, great and small.

Yet anyone with clear eyes could see that this Great Liang Kingdom, stretching several thousand li and governing five or six million people, still rested on a very shaky foundation.

If Zhang Zhao were gone, the state would immediately fall apart.

Therefore, before Zhang Zhao set out, his legal mother the Fengtian Queen Dowager, with Zhang Zhao's consent, had old Zhang Zhong transfer two hundred personal guards from Ningyuan.

These personal guards were all men Zhang Zhao had rescued years ago from the Saks and the Persians, all Nine Zhaowu Clans people and other Uyghurs and Oghuz who refused to convert to Islam.

Their families and tribes now all lived on the several hundred thousand mu of Zhang Zhao's private fields in Ningyuan, so their loyalty was beyond question.

Just as Zhang Zhao had first advanced east from Guanzhong, the Fengtian Queen Dowager had dispatched these two hundred personal guard cavalrymen to the Central Plains.

Their sole mission was, should the great army be defeated, to fight to the death to escort Zhang Zhao back to Hexi.

It had to be said that the Fengtian Queen Dowager's thinking was clear-headed. Even if this Liang Kingdom lost those forty thousand troops, it could still barely hold on.

For Zhang Zhao's policies in Hexi — the garrison-field fubing system and the use of his status as a Dharma King of the Buddhist order to cultivate religious worship among the Tibetans, Tuyuhun, Tatars, and the various Qiang and Tangut peoples — had already achieved great success.

Without those forty thousand troops, the Liang Kingdom would certainly be badly weakened, but as long as Zhang Zhao remained, he could summon warriors from all the peoples, and the united archers and sworn-follower cavalry of Liang, Lan, Qin, Wei, Gan, Su, Gua, and Sha prefectures could at the very least still muster thirty to fifty thousand men.

With those thirty to fifty thousand men, it would be enough to preserve the Liang Kingdom, and after another ten years of rest and recovery, it could grow strong once more.

But without Zhang Zhao, it would all be over. The entire Liang Kingdom would collapse in an instant.

Song Shantong felt the pressure had been mounting lately. As Right Chief Minister of Liang, he was the maternal uncle of the Great Liang Heavenly King Zhang Zhao — no, he should now be called His Majesty the Prince of Yong, who had opened the Tiance Office.

He was deeply trusted by Zhang Zhao; otherwise Zhang Zhao would never have entrusted him with the weighty task of guarding the capital.

But Song Shantong had always had one regret: although many sons of the Song family had entered official service, most were mid- and low-ranking civil officials, few held high positions, and there were hardly any of their own people in the army.

How could that be acceptable?

In Song Shantong's view, to secure the Song family's future power and influence, it would be a great disadvantage if the family had no one commanding troops.

After all, by the thinking of this age, civil officials were mere appendages; those who truly held power were the military men.

That was why, as Right Chief Minister, he felt so stifled at having no say in military matters.

Song Shantong felt he was utterly loyal and did his utmost, and was moreover a serving chief minister, yet the Fengtian Queen Dowager in Yongshou Palace did not quite give him face, and even openly and covertly rapped his knuckles.

Several promotions of Song family sons in a row had all been blocked by the Fengtian Queen Dowager, and she had even recalled his eldest son, Song Yuanshen, who had been serving as Militia Commissioner of Longyou Circuit in Lanzhou, back to serve as Vice Minister of War.

This was plainly guarding against the Song family, fearing they might seize control of the united archers and sworn-follower cavalry of Longyou Circuit.

Deeply dissatisfied, Song Shantong went to seek an audience with Zhang Zhao's birth mother, the Fengsheng Queen Dowager, Lady Song.

But his sister was the same as ever: the moment she opened her mouth it was the Dharma, and the moment she closed it, it was how the Song family's losses were a blessing, and that only by not seeking power could one avoid disaster — which left Song Shantong thoroughly dejected.

"My lord, the old master's carriage has arrived. Come out quickly to receive him!"

Song Shantong had just finished a great pile of official business and returned home, but before his backside had even touched the seat, his youngest son Song Yuanchun came running in shouting.

"Wasn't it said that once your grandfather's carriage passed Shandan, someone would be sent to notify us to go and receive him? How is it that he's already outside the residence?"

The "old master" in Song Yuanchun's mouth was Song Shantong's father, Zhang Zhao's maternal grandfather, Song Tongyi.

The old man was accustomed to the climate and soil of Dunhuang, and so had always stayed in Shazhou, but recently he had said he wanted to come to Liangzhou to see his daughter and his great-grandsons.

Song Yuanchun wore a helpless look. "The servant I sent to Shandan was seized directly by Grandfather's guards. There was simply no chance to send word."

Song Shantong's heart began to pound, and a sudden sense of foreboding rose in him.

A young grandson like Song Yuanchun might only see the kindly, benevolent side of the old master, but Song Shantong knew that his father, now eighty years old, was absolutely a difficult character to deal with.

This could be seen from how Song Tongyi had once agreed to marry his daughter to Zhang Chengfeng as compensation, and then, after the Cao family's rise became unstoppable, had swiftly thrown in his lot with them.

And then, amid shifting and treacherous currents, he had cooperated with the Fengtian Queen Dowager in tacit understanding to protect his grandson Zhang Zhao.

And finally, after Zhang Zhao returned from the east, he had quickly dissolved the resentment in Zhang Zhao's heart and made peace with him.

And in so doing, he had smoothly pushed the Song family to become the foremost clan of the old Guiyi Army — seemingly below the Cao family, but in truth far more trusted than the Caos. From all this, Song Tongyi's skill and vision were plain to see.

For such a terrifying father to have directly seized the servants he had sent to welcome him, and then suddenly appear outside the residence, was plainly to come and call him to account.

In an instant, Song Shantong recalled the fear of being dominated by his father, and beads of sweat the size of beans came pouring down.

"Unfilial wretch! Kneel!"

Sure enough, just as Song Shantong had expected, his father Song Tongyi — who at eighty could still eat half a jin of meat and drink two jiao of wine in one sitting — came straight at him holding a switch and bellowed, ordering him to kneel outside the residence.

Cold sweat poured down Song Shantong's forehead, and he was so embarrassed he did not know what to do.

He was now the Right Chief Minister of a kingdom, and had moreover been appointed left-behind guardian when Zhang Zhao departed; he himself was already past sixty. To be made to kneel in public would be a terrible loss of face.

And knowing his father Song Tongyi as he did, kneeling alone would certainly not be enough — he might well get a beating on top of it.

But if he did not kneel, word of his unfilial conduct would spread at once.

In this age, unfilial conduct was anyone's fatal weak point. Once tainted with that word, one immediately became a rat everyone shouted at and beat.

To say nothing of holding office, even being a person would become a problem.

"My lord, please leave me some face!" So Song Shantong, his face flushed red, could only begin to plead.

"I do not know what has displeased you, my lord. At least give your son a chance to explain."

Song Tongyi narrowed his eyes. In his gaze, his eldest son, now gray-haired and gray-bearded, was no different from when he had been a teenager.

He waved the switch in his hand, making the cold sweat on Song Shantong's forehead flow even more heavily, and only after applying sufficient pressure did he slowly speak.

"You are too concerned with saving face, and that is precisely why you have done what you have done now. The Mandate of Heaven has already been issued, and the rivers and mountains have long since changed. As Right Chief Minister, and left-behind guardian besides, you are still playing the same old games.

Scheming and scraping, fighting for power and profit, planting your own sons and nephews — your eyes see only the little patch of ground beneath your feet today.

If your face is preserved today, my Song family will be overturned tomorrow!"

Song Shantong, mercilessly blasted by his own father, immediately flushed crimson.

"Everything your son has done has been for the sake of the state. My Song family has passed down poetry and propriety for over a hundred years, and its sons are full of talent. What is so strange about a few more of them being given important posts?"

The Son of Heaven himself carries the blood of our Song family. What fault is there in a maternal uncle guarding his nephew's estate?

Song Tongyi let out a long sigh. "All my life I have been a man of many schemes. Why is it that every one of my sons is such a fool?

I had hoped you might be the exception, yet it turns out you aspire to be a Liang Ji or a He Jin.

Enough talk. Kneel!"

Before Song Shantong could speak, his long-coddled youngest son Song Yuanchun stepped forward and said, "Grandfather wrongs Father. It is clearly the Fengtian Empress Dowager who is deliberately targeting the Song family!"

Song Tongyi turned pale with fury — and fright — at these words. He strode forward and brought a birch switch down on Song Yuanchun, splitting his skin open and drawing a piercing shriek.

"What does a brat like you know? How dare you utter such treasonous words?"

His roar finished, Song Tongyi turned to strike Song Shantong as well.

At that very moment, Song Shantong's eldest son — the former Defense Commissioner of Longyou Circuit and now Vice Minister of War — Song Yuanshen, came galloping up from the distance on horseback.

While still far off, he reined in his horse and leaped down, then threw himself forward to kneel before Song Tongyi, kowtowing repeatedly and pleading.

"Grandfather, please stay your hand. Your grandson is willing to take the punishment in his father's place."

So saying, he quickly stripped off his clothes and placed himself between his father and grandfather.

At the sight of his eldest grandson, the gloom on Song Tongyi's face eased somewhat.

"I hear from the Fengsheng Empress Dowager that you resigned the post of Militia Commissioner of Longyou Circuit of your own accord?"

Before Song Yuanshen could answer, Song Shantong flared up. The humiliation of losing face before his father was instantly redirected onto his eldest son.

"Unfilial wretch! So it was you who resigned on your own initiative. No wonder the Empress Dowager dared so brazenly to seize our Song family's authority.

Do you have any idea how much effort your father expended to seat you in the post of Militia Commissioner of Longyou Circuit?"

Hearing that his eldest grandson was still so hopelessly foolish, Song Tongyi flew into a rage, drew out the birch switch, and charged at him. Song Yuanshen hastily threw his arms around Song Tongyi's leg.

"Grandfather, do not be angry — spare your health. Aunt said that once you arrive, Father will be sent into honorable retirement. Liangzhou still needs you to hold the seat."

Shaken, Song Shantong pointed at his kneeling eldest son, his lips trembling, unable to speak.

He dimly realized that his father Song Tongyi had been brought all the way from Dunhuang by his eldest son Song Yuanshen and his sister, the Fengsheng Empress Dowager, precisely to rein him in.

Song Tongyi patted Song Yuanshen on the shoulder, his urge to strike anyone suddenly gone. He looked at Song Shantong and said:

"Six years as Chief Minister, and your vision is still narrower than your son's. The Heavenly King entrusted the state to you as regent so that you would follow established precedent and keep the region stable. Instead, you treated that trust as license.

The reason our Song family enjoys such deep trust is that for generations we have been civil clerks and have never meddled in military affairs.

Yet you placed Yuanshen in the post of Militia Commissioner of Longyou Circuit and groomed Song family sons for the army. This is all my failure to discipline you! You truly came to treat the Son of Heaven as your nephew."

The more Song Tongyi spoke, the more it pained him. The Song family had no foundation whatsoever in the military. Carrying on like this only sounded impressive on the surface; without five or eight years of cultivation, it could not possibly bear fruit.

And of course, more importantly, for the Song family to act this way was a grave taboo.

His grandson Great King Zhang was no soft-hearted man. Among the old Guiyi Army families, the Song family was favored not merely because it was the maternal grandfather's house, but even more because the Songs had never laid a hand on military power.

Song Tongyi was certain that the moment the Song family truly interfered in military affairs, once Zhang Zhao returned — whether in victory or defeat — disaster would fall upon them at once.

If victorious, it might be tolerable: a punishment of loud thunder but little rain, followed by the Song family's exclusion from the inner circle.

If defeated, the Songs would surely be the first to be made an example of, to divert attention.

Whenever an external defeat occurs, finding a scapegoat to crush as a warning in order to suppress domestic opposition has always been the one infallible device.

Song Tongyi was just considering whether to drag his son to Yongshou Palace to seek an audience with the Fengtian Empress Dowager and his daughter, the Fengsheng Empress Dowager —

after all, dismissing a sitting Grand Chancellor of the Right was not something that could be settled in a few words —

when suddenly, in the distance, cheers erupted like thunder. In an instant, the whole city of Liangzhou was like a pot of water at full boil, as countless people called out to friends and poured into the streets.

The Song family residence stood by the East Gate, so no sooner had the cheering faded than a dozen or so dispatch riders were seen, red triangular pennants fixed to their backs, brandishing ochre-yellow victory proclamations as they galloped in through the East Gate.

"Great victory! Great victory! The eastern expedition has won a great victory! In one battle at Luoyang, our Yong-Liang army shattered the Khitan and slew the Khitan ruler Yaogu on the field! The Liao state's hundred-thousand-strong army has been reduced to ashes!"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Song Tongyi laughed three times, flung away the birch switch in his hand, and danced about in his excitement.

"Excellent! Truly excellent! The great matter is settled! My little girl is going to be Empress Dowager!"

In that instant, amid the citywide roar of "Victory! Victory!", the entire Song household, high and low, was beside itself with excitement, and many even broke down and wept aloud.

With the Great King's successful entry into the Central Plains, the Song family would rise at once — they were, after all, the genuine maternal clan of the throne.

Compared with that, angling for some petty office in Hexi or Longyou was hardly worth mentioning.

Some had originally sided with Song Shantong, thinking that while Zhang Zhao was away and the Song family held sway, they might wangle a few more posts.

Now it was clear there was no need at all. Compared with the Central Plains, what did the backwater lands of Hexi and Longyou amount to?

After the wild joy subsided, Song Tongyi looked at his disappointing son and barked:

"Guards! Seal the residence and keep them under strict watch. Without my order, no one is to be let out."

Then he took Song Yuanshen by the hand. "My good grandson, you and I must enter the palace at once. You know what is to be done next, yes?"

Song Yuanshen nodded. "The Fengtian and Fengsheng Empress Dowagers and the Queen will certainly go to the Central Plains. Our Song family must absolutely not cling to the regency any longer. Better to recommend the Zhang family elder Zhang Huaiqing to hold Liangzhou as regent."

In Yongshou Palace in Liangzhou, facing the celebrating crowds throughout the city, the Fengtian Empress Dowager Lady Li, the Fengsheng Empress Dowager Lady Song, Queen Cao Yanxi, the Lady of Shouchang Commandery Cao Yannai, the Lady of Shanshan Commandery Li Ruoliu, and the rest all had tears in their eyes.

A year of constant dread had at last found relief.

Zhang Zhao had not only won a great victory over the Khitan, but had also slain the Khitan ruler — with one battle, half the realm was settled.

Lady Cao Sanniang Yannai and her young aunt Li Ruoliu exchanged a glance. As Zhang Zhao's first two women and his companions through hardship, they felt as though they were dreaming.

Lady Cao Sanniang remembered that little novice monk of years ago, dressed in tattered gray robes, foolishly clamping his thighs together for fear his "weapon" might fall out. After fourteen years of struggle, he was about to become the supreme ruler of all under heaven.

Li Ruoliu remembered that stormy afternoon when Zhang Zhao, with only a hundred-odd men, had descended upon the city of Wuni in the Zhongyun kingdom like a wrathful deity fallen from the sky.

In a single battle he had destroyed the Zhongyun king Sanpoba, who had been holding the city and swelling with arrogance.

Back then, when Zhang Zhao had resisted the temptation of her beauty, and had nearly been brained by that simpleton Dunzhu's mace, Li Ruoliu had understood: this was a man who could accomplish great things.

But never had she imagined that Zhang Zhao would one day sit upon the throne of supreme ruler of all under heaven.

"I ask the two Empress Dowagers and the Queen to take the Fourth Young Master outside the city to receive the congratulations. This is the great achievement of all our Yong-Liang warriors, and it should be celebrated together with their families!"

The moment Song Tongyi entered, he urged the women of the household to take Zhang Zhao's legitimate son Zhang Xianjing out to receive the congratulations.

For now, only the flying victory proclamation had arrived; until it was formally announced, it was not yet official.

And so, led by Zhang Zhao's legal mother, the Dowager Queen of Fengtian, Lady Li, and his birth mother, the Dowager Queen of Fengsheng, Lady Song, Queen Cao Yanxi—carrying the two-year-old Zhang Xianjing—made her way to the Qifeng Gate, the main gate of the Yongxun Palace in the outer city of the imperial palace, surrounded by Cao Yannai, Li Ruoliu, Cao Yanmian, and the rest.

The common folk who had long been waiting outside burst into thunderous cheers the moment they heard Queen Cao Yanxi herself announce the great victory at Luoyang. Wave after wave of acclamation and prostration surged like the tide.

Cao Yanxi then announced that victory banquets would be laid out at the four gates of Liangzhou, that the families of all soldiers on campaign would be feasted, and that the curfew would be lifted.

After the good news had been conveyed to the people, Cao Yannai and the others immediately returned to Yongxun Palace and convened the assembled ministers for deliberation.

Holding Zhang Zhao's handwritten order, Cao Yannai spoke to Song Tongyi.

"Grandfather, the Great King has assumed the title of Son of Heaven of Zhou and entered the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture.

By imperial command, we are to draw another fifteen thousand troops at once. Five thousand of them are to be given to the Palace Attendant Cao Gongyuanzhong to garrison Guanzhong and guard against the Shu kingdom.

Ten thousand are to be sent to the Eastern Capital to garrison the various districts. As for the commander of these troops, I fear we must find a great general of established renown."

Song Tongyi very naturally took his place at the position of Right Chief Minister, which belonged to his son Song Shantong, and no one found anything amiss. The Right Chief Minister Song, who had been leaping about not long before, immediately became as though he had never appeared at all.

Song Tongyi cupped his hands. "The matter is of great importance, and a steady great general is indeed required. Feng Hui, Prefect of Xizhou, happens to have returned to Liangzhou. Why not let Feng Hui command the great army to Guanzhong and the Central Plains?"

After the last great battle that destroyed the Gaochang Uyghurs, Feng Hui had been appointed Prefect of Xizhou by Zhang Zhao and left to hold Gaochang City.

Before Zhang Zhao set out, he had sent an envoy appointing Chen Huiyao of the Chen clan of Yinzhou to be promoted to Prefect of Xizhou and Defense Commissioner of Gaochang, and summoned Feng Hui back.

Feng Hui and his son were both fierce generals, and naturally they should be used where the military pressure was greater—in the Central Plains.

The Dowager Queen of Fengtian, the Dowager Queen of Fengsheng, and Queen Cao Yanxi exchanged glances. The three of them nodded at the same time, and only then did Cao Yanxi turn back and say softly.

"Grandfather's proposal is a good one. Then let Feng Hui serve as Escort Commissioner of the Imperial Carriage and lead the troops east."

Feng Hui's office being that of acting Escort Commissioner of the Imperial Carriage meant that Zhang Zhao's mother, consorts, and children were about to set out for the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture.

"Then to whom should the defense of Liangzhou be entrusted? Could Grandfather undertake this heavy responsibility for your granddaughter?" Queen Cao Yanxi continued to ask.

Song Tongyi lowered his head and glanced at his grandson Song Yuanshen, signaling him to come forward and speak, while inwardly growing even more cautious. Cao Yanxi's words were not without a probing intent.

Song Yuanshen immediately stepped out of line and said, "Grandfather is advanced in years and not suited to remain as defender. Moreover, he has long wished to return to the Central Plains for a look, and to pay respects at the ancestral graves in Nanhe, Xingzhou. Your servant requests to escort Grandfather to the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture."

Zhang Zhao's maternal family had always claimed descent from the Song clan of Guangping, acknowledging the famed Kaiyuan-era Chief Minister Song Jing as their ancestor, so this request seemed perfectly reasonable.

Over the past ten years, the temperament of Zhang Zhao's birth mother, the Dowager Queen of Fengsheng, Lady Song, had undergone no small change. Once Zhang Zhao's foundations had grown ever more secure, Lady Song, who had always been timid and devoted to chanting sutras, had also become considerably more cheerful.

Still, she could not bear to see her father being so cautious and circumspect, so she spoke up of her own accord.

"Uncle Zhang Gonghuaiqing is an elder of the Zhang clan of Shazhou. He is just the right person to serve as Defender of Liangzhou."

Since Lady Song had said so, the Dowager Queen of Fengtian, Lady Li—who had been somewhat displeased with Song Shantong's recent maneuvering—also nodded at once.

"My sister's suggestion is a good one. Lord Huaiqing is fully capable of serving as Defender."

As for this man Zhang Huaiqing—what could one say? As the only remaining grandfather-generation elder of Zhang Zhao's family, and the sole surviving nephew of Zhang Yichao.

He was actually not very old, and his health was still decent. Although his abilities were mediocre, he was at least a man who understood things clearly and had little ambition—the sort of person everyone could trust and accept.

However, his abilities were not sufficient for so heavy a responsibility as Defender of Liangzhou. So Cao Sanniangzi Yannai—the mother of Murong Xinzhang, Zhang Zhao's true friend in adversity, and Lady of Shanshan Commandery—came forward to add.

"The Defender's responsibility is grave, and he must also carry out the Son of Heaven's Ti Rang Law. Since the Son of Heaven has granted discretionary authority, why not first summon Pei Yuan, Commissioner of the Shuofang Circuit, into Liangzhou, confer on him the additional titles of Acting Grand Guardian and Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, make him Commissioner of the Hexi Circuit, and appoint him Acting Vice Defender of Liangzhou, to assist Lord Huaiqing.

As for the post of Commissioner of the Shuofang Circuit, your servant has heard that Liu Zhiyuan of Hedong is also courting Zhe Congyuan of Fuzhou. Then let us simply promote Zhe Congyuan's eldest son, Zhe Deyi, with the additional title of Grand Master of the Palace with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon, and appoint him to the two offices of Administration Commissioner and Militia Commissioner of the Shuofang Circuit."

Sanniangzi was as shrewd as ever, and her proposal immediately won the praise of the two dowager queens, the queen, and Song Tongyi.

Zhang Huaiqing was an elder of the imperial clan, and his status and position were beyond question. Though his abilities were lacking, he could command the respect of all.

Pei Yuan was one of Zhang Zhao's pillars of state, and he had toiled without complaint, staying in Shuofang all these years. His abilities were even more beyond question.

Transferring him to serve as Vice Defender would, first, bestow imperial favor, and second, complement and check Zhang Huaiqing—the most prudent arrangement.

As for transferring Zhe Deyi to the Shuofang Circuit to serve as Administration and Militia Commissioner, that was even more ingenious.

Liu Zhiyuan had always hoped to win over Zhe Congyuan of Fuzhou. Now, by directly promoting Zhe Congyuan's son to a position controlling the Shuofang Circuit.

Then Liu Zhiyuan, with that piddling patch of Hedong—even if you squeezed him to death, he could not produce such terms, and naturally he would no longer be able to win over Zhe Congyuan.

As for the Ti Rang Law, it had been settled by Zhang Zhao before he left. It meant that the Son of Heaven of Zhou was preparing to raise the eight prefectures of Hexi—Liang, Lan, Gan, Su, Gua, Sha, He, and Shan—to an unprecedented height.

To put it simply, in this place, a reformed fubing system would be fully implemented.

Constrained by changes in the earth's climate that do not shift according to human will, the northwest would gradually become arid over the next thousand years—that was plain to see.

This place was no longer as it had been in the Great Tang and earlier, with abundant rainfall and lush vegetation capable of sustaining a large population.

So Zhang Zhao intended to lock down these eight prefectures. All registered households would become fubing, each family becoming a mid-sized landholding household with roughly five hundred mu of land or more, plus mountain forests and pastureland.

They would then be given preferential tax treatment, so that the only thing they needed to concern themselves with was riding, archery, and cutting men down.

In the future, his Zhou dynasty's Left and Right Yulin Guards—the guards of the guards—would be selected only from the people of these eight prefectures.

The fubing fields of these eight prefectures could not be transferred, could not be bought or sold, and if a descendant failed the martial examination, they would be confiscated.

The so-called Ti Rang Law was designed to prevent population growth and the constant division of family property, which would lower the fubing's economic status and lead to bankruptcy.

What Ti Rang actually meant was primogeniture. As for the other brothers, once they reached the age of eighteen, they would have to yield to the eldest brother and make their own way in the world.

But while the idea was good, putting it into practice was extremely complicated.

For example, what if the eldest brother's body could not sustain martial training, or he was disabled by injury during training, or he could not produce an heir—all these things had to be considered.

So to carry this out properly, no one but a weighty minister like Pei Yuan would do.

And the work had to begin immediately, because of the forty thousand troops who had followed Zhang Zhao, the great majority would never return to Hexi.

The properties they already held in Hexi would all have to be yielded to their younger brothers, and those without younger brothers would have to sell them. Their families would also have to move away. The troublesome matters were simply too many to count.

At the end of the year 945 CE, in order to reach the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture, before New Year's Day, Queen Cao Yanxi took charge of the arrangements, and the people of Liangzhou immediately made ready to depart.

The imperial carriage heading east was protected by Feng Hui with fifteen thousand troops, while Liangzhou was entrusted to Defender Zhang Huaiqing and Vice Defender Pei Yuan.

And almost at the same time, Guanzhong was still engulfed in the flames of war.

In the seventh month, the Shu ruler Meng Chang had discovered that he had very likely been deceived, and so began sending envoys into Guanzhong with increasing frequency.

Yin Yaozi and Liu Zaisheng dragged things out until mid-ninth month, and then could no longer conceal it.

The furious Meng Chang immediately ordered the Shu army to advance in three columns.

One column was commanded by An Siqian, Chief Commander of the Left Kuangsheng Army's cavalry and infantry, leading fifteen thousand troops out of Qishan straight for Qinzhou (Tianshui).

Another column, under Sun Hanshao, Military Governor of the Wuding Army of Yuanzhou, led ten thousand troops out of Dasan Pass toward Fengxiang Prefecture.

The last main-force route of the Shu army was commanded by the great general of Shu, Chief Minister and Military Governor of Shannan West Circuit Zhang Qianzhao, serving as Pacification Commissioner of the Northern Front March, leading thirty thousand main-force troops out of the Ziwu Valley to attack Chang'an.

Meanwhile, the Zhou army had Yin Yaozi commanding six thousand men to hold Qinzhou, Liu Zaisheng commanding six thousand to hold Fengxiang Prefecture, and Cao Yuanzhong leading four thousand men to defend Chang'an — at an absolute disadvantage in troop strength.

And although Zhang Zhao regarded Shu as having little fighting strength, they had abundant armor and ample grain, and their officers were likewise of Daibei martial-aristocrat stock, so their fighting strength was not actually too low.

By the end of the ninth month, Chang'an was in urgent danger, and after Liu Zaisheng received Cao Yuanzhong's order, he had no choice but to abandon Fengxiang Prefecture and bring his entire army back to defend Chang'an.

After the Shu army took Fengxiang Prefecture, Meng Chang was overjoyed and seized the momentum to send reinforcements.

Zhang Qianzhao, having come out of the Ziwu Valley, led his elite troops straight for Chang'an, only to be badly defeated by Liu Zaisheng's four thousand iron cavalry as soon as he reached the Guanzhong plain. Losing several thousand men, he could only retreat back into the Ziwu Valley.

From then on, Zhang Qianzhao continued requesting troops from Meng Chang on one hand, while on the other building many stockades and forts to offset the advantage of the Zhou army's iron cavalry, pinning down the Zhou forces and waiting for an opportunity.

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