Chapter 544: Let Li Jing Come to Be Beaten of His Own Accord

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On the first day of the second month of the first year of Zhang Zhou's Shaoming reign, Zhang Zhao completed the consolidation of the Later Jin's Military Governors and issued an edict.

An Shenqi was appointed Military Governor of Ziqing and Pinglu.

Gao Xingzhou was appointed Military Governor of Cangzhou and Henghai.

Wang Zhou was appointed Military Governor of Weizhou and Yicheng.

Jiao Jixun was appointed Military Governor of Xiangzhou and Zhangde.

Fu Yanqing was appointed Military Governor of Beizhou and Yongqing.

He Fujin was appointed Military Governor of Xingzhou and Anguo.

Yao Yuanfu was appointed Military Governor of Hengzhou and Shunguo.

For his own men from Yong and Liang, Zhang Zhao arranged for Yan Jin to lead the Hanhai and Wuwei garrison armies as Defender-in-Chief of Beijing and Military Governor of Hedong.

Fan Shun was appointed Military Governor of Xuzhou and Zhongwu.

Liu Zaisheng was appointed Military Governor of the Western Shannan Circuit.

Erzhu Jing was appointed Military Governor of Dengzhou and Weisheng.

Ma Yaozi was appointed Military Governor of Yunzhou and Tianping.

Zhao Kuangzan was appointed Military Governor of Hezhong and Huguo.

Shanzhu'er Luo Shande was appointed Military Governor of Yanzhou and Taining.

At the same time, the Military Governor posts in the Guanzhong region were abolished, and a Guannei Circuit was established, with Yin Yaozi serving as Grand Commissioner of Guannei Circuit and concurrently Defense Commissioner of Guannei Circuit, responsible for military affairs west of the Pass.

Liu Zaisheng was transferred to Xiangzhou in the Western Shannan Circuit as Military Governor, specifically targeting the King of Nanping, Gao Conghui.

In political affairs, Zhang Zhao restored the circuit system of the Great Tang era, establishing circuit Grand Commissioners to coordinate civil administration and fiscal powers across each circuit.

Although not explicitly stipulated, the circuit Grand Commissioners would certainly become the superiors of the Military Governors in the future; this was beyond dispute.

However, to minimize provoking the yabing guards and yabing officers, Zhang Zhao left the Hebei Circuit nominal in terms of civil administration, with no actual circuit Grand Commissioner.

The prefectures and counties under Military Governor jurisdiction still used the old system, but prefectures and counties without Military Governors were administered by officials selected by the court.

In fiscal matters, for prefectures and counties with Military Governors, the court's Ministry of Revenue dispatched a Vice Director to audit and review; after approval, the Military Governor could spend freely, while revenues from prefectures and counties without Military Governors were all reclaimed by the state.

If a Military Governor's funds proved insufficient, the stationed Ministry of Revenue Vice Director would submit a list and application; after Ministry of Revenue review, the Left Vice Minister would report for approval, and the court could provide supplementation.

And this was only Hebei. In the Henan Circuit, encompassing the vast regions of later Henan, Shandong, Huaibei, and northern Hubei, it was already much the same as the former Yong-Liang state.

The Military Governors handled military affairs, while civil and fiscal powers were all surrendered — in effect they became regional commanders.

This was also why Zhang Zhao basically assigned the Later Jin's Military Governors to Hebei while distributing his own core followers to Henan.

Hebei would have to contend with Liu Zhiyuan and the Khitan, and it probably could not be pacified within two or three years.

Moreover, his own people were already accustomed to Military Governors not managing civil affairs, while Fu Yanqing and the others had not yet adapted; being too radical all at once was inappropriate.

So Hebei would not undergo major changes; the real reform and pilot program were simply placed in Henan.

The administrative structure Zhang Zhao most idealized in his heart was, of course, the provincial system of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

But in an era when even movable-type printing had not been invented, with only woodblock printing available, this was not very realistic.

Because Zhang Zhao did not have enough officials to govern this country, nor the complete talent-selection mechanisms of the Ming and Qing; one must understand that the current imperial examinations produced only a single top scholar.

And they did not even select one for every examination session; the second and third place scholars had no shadow at all, and by the late Tang and Five Dynasties, even the timing was no longer fixed.

With the current talent reserves, it simply could not support a grand centralized structure like that of the Ming and Qing.

Moreover, the Ming system channeled all benefits through a single outlet, giving all advantages to the literati, while the Qing courted the literati on one hand while creating an entire privileged class on the other.

Zhang Zhao estimated that perhaps only in his old age, when population growth, commercial prosperity, and the advent of movable-type printing spread knowledge to the lower classes, could the political structure approach that of the Ming and Qing to some degree.

For now, it was merely patching things up — on one hand limiting the military-province separatism that had existed since the late Tang, while on the other still relying on the all-encompassing military-governor system and local great clans to rule.

With internal consolidation complete, the next issue was military. Zhang Zhao convened a large military council attended by generals of all factions.

The Military Governors had only just received their posts and had not yet departed for their regions, so the assembly was still quite complete.

The vast majority of generals looked at the maps and began discussing from which routes they should strike Liu Zhiyuan.

Because before this, Zhang Zhao had issued an open edict to Liu Zhiyuan demanding that he transfer his command to Yedu, yet Liu Zhiyuan had not even let the court's imperial envoy through the gates of Taiyuan.

And after that, Zhang Zhao had given the posts of Defender-in-Chief of Beijing and Military Governor of Hedong to his trusted general Yan Jin.

He had also granted out the Military Governor posts of Xing, Ming, Heng, and other prefectures in Hebei already controlled by Liu Zhiyuan.

By the normal rhythm of things, an attack on Liu Zhiyuan was imminent.

And even Liu Zhiyuan himself thought so, according to information sent back by the Brocade Guard and Fu Yanqing's younger brother Fu Yanlin.

Liu Zhiyuan had concentrated a large number of troops at Fuyang north of Yedu and established a defensive line along the Fu River, the Zhang River, and the Fu Mountains behind them.

But amid the stunned gazes of the vast majority, what the Emperor's personal guards brought out was a topographic map of the Huaibei region.

Zhang Zhao gestured for Hu Guang to come forward. "General of the Household Hu, come up and explain the situation in Huaibei."

Hu Guang was now a General of the Household in the Right Longxiang Guard of the personal army. In Zhang Zhao's personal army — the Left and Right Yulin Guards, Left and Right Jinwu Guards, Left and Right Longxiang Guards — the ranks of Senior General and Grand General were no longer standing posts, generally used only for posthumous conferral.

The commander of a Guard was a Commander, with a deputy holding the title of General of the Household as second-in-command, followed by Commandants and Chief Supervisors.

Although it appeared that a Chief Supervisor of the personal army commanded only five hundred men, in reality the six Guards of the personal army were the elite of the elite, equipped with an equal number of auxiliary troops, and in wartime supplemented by other garrison armies as support.

So in practice, a Chief Supervisor of the personal army might well lead around fifteen hundred to two thousand men.

Hu Guang had long ceased to feel awkward about his father being the chief culprit in the deterioration of the Huaibei situation; he had grown quite able to accept the suspicious looks that came from being the son of Hu Cile.

"Word has come from the Southern Wu state that, through the mediation of Hu Cile, the Military Governor of Xuzhou and Wuning who defected to Southern Wu, the Southern Wu ruler Li Jing is preparing to change Xuzhou to Beijing.

He will also enfeoff Hu Cile as Defender-in-Chief of Beijing, and Du Chongwei as Southern Wu's Acting Grand Tutor and Military Governor of Guide, among other posts, enfeoffing him as Duke of Song and bestowing large amounts of wealth and goods.

Du Chongwei, together with the Khitan turncoat general Yang Gun, has also cut off the water and land routes of the Bian River, intending to resist stubbornly."

Zhang Zhao styled himself as the restorer of the Great Tang and a loyal subject of the Great Tang, so he naturally would not recognize the Southern Tang regime, instead calling them Southern Wu.

In practical terms, the war between Zhang Zhou and Southern Tang was indeed more urgent than striking Liu Zhiyuan.

Because this involved matters of orthodoxy and legal legitimacy.

Zhang Zhao was a loyal subject of the Great Tang, while Li Bian and his son Li Jing simply declared themselves the Great Tang — there was absolutely no room for reconciliation! One side had to fall.

In fact, this was precisely why Li Jing, the ruler of the Southern Tang, was so eager to win over Hu Cile — even accepting a heavyweight like Du Chongwei — and why he drew large forces northward before Wang Min had been fully pacified.

When they heard that Southern Wu was making a major move, many people looked at one another in dismay.

It was not that they had failed to foresee Du Chongwei going over to Southern Wu — Zhang Zhao was plainly out for Du Chongwei's life, and Du Chongwei had committed so many evils himself that even a fool could figure out defecting to Southern Wu was his only option.

The only question was whether he would flee south with his whole household, or lure Wu troops north — just two choices.

What startled everyone was that Li Jing, the ruler of Southern Wu, truly had outrageous daring!

For all Southern Wu's army — though its navy was strong and its infantry passable — they had very little cavalry!

In the entire realm, only the Xiongwu, Longwu, and Shenwei armies of the palace guard had cavalry, roughly seven or eight thousand at most, and their fighting strength could not compare with the cavalry of the Central Plains.

Though it is said that to hold the Yangtze one must hold the Huai, to come charging all the way to Songzhou and even rename Xuzhou the Northern Capital — was that not a bit too brazen?

Had Li Jing never considered what a blow it would deal to Southern Wu's army morale if this Northern Capital of Xuzhou could not be held?

Zhang Zhao smiled smugly. The reason Li Jing, ruler of the Southern Tang, dared to be so bold was, in fact, largely due to the rumors Zhang Zhao had had the Embroidered Guard and the Hexi Merchant Guild spread.

In those rumors, Zhang Zhao had already moved most of his cavalry north of the Yellow River to confront Liu Zhiyuan and the Khitans, and he was still hoping to persuade Du Chongwei to surrender.

And Du Chongwei, that heavyweight, in order to strengthen his standing with the Southern Tang, had boasted extravagantly to Li Jing in his letters.

He claimed to have three thousand elite Khitan cavalry under his command and more than ten thousand fine horses, and that he had blocked the Bian River — so as long as the Southern Tang's great army arrived, he could certainly hold out.

Hu Cile, however, who knew well the terrors of the Yongliang iron cavalry, was extremely cautious. Not only did he submit memorials several times, he even sent his nephew Hu Tai in person to Jiangning to explain to Li Jing why the Yongliang iron cavalry was far beyond what Jiangnan cavalry could oppose.

But the more he said, the more it backfired. Hu Cile treated Li Jing as a lord of the same caliber as Zhang Zhao, and so he spoke his mind without the slightest reserve.

As a result, Li Jing and the "Five Ghosts" in power, led by Feng Yanji, became extremely displeased. They felt Hu Cile was overpraising Zhang Zhao and the Yongliang iron cavalry while belittling Li Jing and the palace guard of our great "Tang" — his intent was practically treasonous!

Fortunately, Hu Cile's eldest son Hu Wei was far more "sensible" than Hu Cile, and thanks to his clever explanations, Li Jing did not vent his anger on Hu Cile.

Li Jing also came to feel that Hu Wei's ability and judgment far exceeded Hu Cile's.

Hu Cile must have grown old and lost his ambition, which was why he was so hesitant. But Hu Wei was different — he too was a fierce general who had fought his way back from Anxi, and moreover young and full of high aspirations.

Thus, under the influence of Hu Wei, whose judgment was poor to begin with and who deliberately pandered, Li Jing came to believe that our Great Tang's navy was sharp, its infantry invincible, and the only thing to worry about was the Zhou realm's Yongliang iron cavalry.

But the Yongliang iron cavalry was not numerous north of the Huai — only a little over ten thousand riders.

On his side, he had ten thousand palace guard cavalry of his own, more than two thousand cavalry under Hu Cile, and another three thousand elite Khitan cavalry with Du Chongwei — added together, more than the Zhou realm's cavalry.

Moreover, with the great army marching north from Jiangning, they had the water transport advantages of the Si River, the Bian Canal, and the Hangou Canal, and could use boats to deliver troops to the Northern Capital of Xuzhou and to various points around Songzhou.

When the time came, they would use the canals as their Great Wall, their elite infantry as the shield, the crossbowmen on the boats as the spear, and their iron cavalry on the flanks as the strangling noose.

As long as they could draw the Zhou army near the Bian River, they could defeat it even in open battle.

Li Jing was making his wishful calculations, while Gao Xingzhou and Hu Guang — no! Gao Xingzhou was even more awkward than Hu Guang.

Because Du Chongwei in Songzhou was his in-law: his second daughter, Gao E'niang, was married to Du Chongwei's eldest son, Du Hongzhang.

And at the same time, Gao Xingzhou now understood why Zhang Zhao had been cold-shouldering Du Chongwei all along, even indulging him.

"The Sage's intent is to lure the Southern Wu great army to the Songzhou area and annihilate them in one stroke?"

Zhang Zhao nodded slightly. "Grand Marshal Gao is indeed a general who knows warfare. Southern Wu spans a thousand li, with a population of some five million, and its palace guard and imperial bodyguard armies alone number over a hundred thousand. It is a great power of the age, and its navy is sharp, far surpassing ours.

If I were to march south and attack north and south of the Huai, the campaign would drag on, and I fear Liu Zhiyuan would only grow stronger.

If I do not attack, then when I raise a great army to recover Hebei, that whelp Li Jing will have Hu Cile rally the bandits north of the Huai and will surely come raiding.

Better to lure the enemy deep and let the soldiers of Southern Wu deliver themselves to our door for a beating!"