Chapter 560: Lord Li's Three Stratagems Settle Yangzhou

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The standing garrison of Yangzhou Prefecture, the Eastern Capital, was three thousand men of the Southern Tang imperial guard's Longjie Army: two thousand five hundred regular soldiers, with the remaining five hundred or so being officers, officers' personal attendants, and cooks.

For the Southern Tang, this establishment was quite irregular.

Because in the Southern Tang, imperial guard units were normally organized with one hundred men to a du, five du to a battalion, five battalions to an army, and ten armies to a xiang; each xiang should have been twenty-five thousand men, with the xiang's highest officer being the Chief Commander, divided into senior and deputy. Above the xiang was a numbered army, and each numbered army had a left and right xiang.

By the standard establishment, a Southern Tang numbered imperial guard army should have had fifty thousand men, but in practice, neither the Southern Tang nor even the Central Plains court could maintain such a standing-army establishment.

So at this time, imperial guard establishments mostly had no xiang; instead, two armies — for example a Left Army and a Right Army — stood directly under the numbered army.

One battalion was five hundred men, five battalions made an army of twenty-five hundred, and one numbered army commanded two armies, making a force of five thousand.

The xiang as a fixed, full-strength establishment only came later, after the Song dynasty grew wealthy and its population increased.

So at this time, what was the xiang establishment mostly used for?

First, to give military officers an added title — something like "Xiang Chief Commander" or "Chief Commander" sounded imposing.

Second, in wartime, laborers, prefectural and county troops, or local militia and other auxiliary troops would be stuffed into it, rapidly swelling a normally five-thousand-man army into a great host of tens of thousands.

This was the same as on Zhang Zhao's side. Zhang Zhao's imperial guards — the Feathered Forest Guard, for instance — had three thousand men to a wei, with the Left and Right Wei together making six thousand.

Zhang Zhao was actually also considering whether to create something like a skeleton-division xiang in his establishment.

Because this period was the very peak of cold weapons in ancient China, and one brave, heavily armored soldier very much needed other support personnel.

The peculiarity of the Longjie Army garrisoning the Southern Tang's Eastern Capital was that it had only three thousand men and was not divided into Left and Right Armies — in practice it was only the size of a single army.

This establishment, strange no matter how one looked at it, was precisely the result of the Southern Tang's unique political system.

Li Jing's son Li Hongji was not the heir in line of succession, so Li Jing had no choice but to let him hold the two posts of Eastern Capital Defender and Eastern Capital Governor, which allowed him to cultivate a private power base.

But that meant the army garrisoning the Eastern Capital prefecture of Yangzhou had to be different from before.

If it were set up like Jiangning, with six divisions of imperial guards plus other imperial guard units, placing forty or fifty thousand men around Jiangning, that would not be suitable for the Eastern Capital prefecture of Yangzhou.

Even halving it would not do, because that could easily cause the Eastern Capital Defender's strength to swell too much.

So Li Jing's solution was to grant only one imperial guard designation, and not even at full strength.

Beyond that, although the Longjie Army was called an imperial guard unit, everything from weapons to pay followed a standard far lower than the imperial guards but somewhat better than prefectural and county troops.

In later generations' terms, the Longjie Army garrisoning the Eastern Capital prefecture of Yangzhou was a second-rate division.

And such a second-rate division was used to hold a place like Yangzhou.

Sigh! One can only say that the Southern Tang claimed to be descendants of the Li-Tang imperial house, but they learned none of its merits — while factional strife and heirs fighting like dogs, those two things they truly learned to ruinous perfection.

Thus, thanks to the Southern Tang court's perfect assist, Gao Huaide's force, which had charged straight into the Eastern Capital Defender's office compound in Yangzhou, quickly routed the several hundred Southern Tang defenders stationed there.

Gao Huaide had originally thought that if they could not break the Defender's office compound, that sturdy fortress, they would have to resort to setting it on fire.

In the end, far from needing fire, his seven hundred-odd men charged in and took the Defender's office compound, with the dead on his side estimated at no more than five, and the wounded countable on two hands.

Gao Huaide even sent Huangfu Chong with more than three hundred cavalry to keep chasing the routed troops, all the way to the gates of the Longjie Army's camp.

Although Huangfu Chong's command ability was lacking and he was a bit rigid — he could not even properly do the job of being Zhang Zhao's trusted personal guard, which Zhang Zhao had specially given him for Huangfu Yu's sake.

Still, his battlefield experience was extremely rich, and serving as a Captain leading two or three hundred men was more than enough for him.

The moment he saw he had reached the Longjie Army's camp, he stopped the pursuit. He first had a hundred and fifty cavalry dismount and form ranks, using divine-arm crossbows and horn-bow crossbows to seal the camp gate, then had men light wolf-smoke and send up signal flares to request reinforcements.

Just as this setup was completed, the Longjie Army organized a sally, but because time was short, only a little over five hundred men of the Longjie Army came out.

The number was too small, and although they had many rattan shields, they were still shot back by the combination of divine-arm crossbows and horn-bow crossbows blocking the gate. Huangfu Chong even organized his remaining cavalry and launched a countercharge.

By the time the Longjie Army had fully organized and more than two thousand men in full armor came charging out, Yao Yuanfu had also arrived with fifteen hundred cavalry.

Huangfu Chong immediately feigned defeat and lured the Longjie Army's two thousand-odd men out of the camp, until they had pursued to the northeast corner of Yangzhou city.

Yao Yuanfu suddenly struck with fifteen hundred cavalry. The Longjie Army had been chasing all the way, their formation in chaos; the strong had almost reached Yangzhou city while the weak had only run halfway, and the two thousand men had strung out into a long, long snake formation.

How could they withstand Yao Yuanfu's surprise attack? The Longjie Army collapsed almost at the first blow, and apart from a few who jumped into the river to escape, most were captured or killed.

The only armed force defending Yangzhou vanished completely in less than two ke.

Zhou Zong sat calmly in the main hall of the Jiangdu Prefecture office compound, while in his mind, scenes of his past meeting, knowing, and bonding with the Southern Tang's founding emperor Li Bian flashed before him one after another.

The classics Zhou Zong had studied since childhood all drove him to die a martyr's death right now.

But then he thought of the beautiful concubines, fine wine, fertile fields, and grand mansions at home — and of that daughter whom he secretly regarded as having the bearing of one who could mother the realm.

Of course, it might also have been fear of pain, so Zhou Zong, accompanied by a servant nearly paralyzed with fright, could never bring himself to die.

Li Cunhui quickly mopped up the resistance in the Defender's office compound, and then saw the conflicted-looking Zhou Zong and the servant slumped limp on the ground beside him.

Li Cunhui narrowed his eyes, took his long saber in hand, and walked straight toward Zhou Zong.

Looking at the Zhou iron-armored warrior, reeking of blood and like a demon god, Zhou Zong could not help trembling all over. He very much wanted to kneel like the servant or slump to the ground and kowtow and beg for mercy.

But the last shred of dignity as a human being in his heart, and a strange sense of release rising inexplicably within him, stopped Zhou Zong.

Li Cunhui looked at this old man who was terrified but had still not knelt, grinned wickedly, and lightly dragged his hengdao saber across the ground.

A sound that made one's heart quiver and skin crawl rang out, like death drawing near. Zhou Zong's throat let out an involuntary gulp, and his body kept wanting to slide to the floor.

Li Cunhui suddenly stopped the intimidation at just the right moment. He grabbed the round-collared robe of Zhou Zong's servant, who was slumped on the ground in terror, wiped the blood from his hengdao saber, and returned the blade to its scabbard.

Only after completing this whole routine did he cup his hands toward Zhou Zong. "I am Li Cunhui, Commander of the Great Zhou's Right Feathered Forest Guard. May I ask whether the elder before me is Lord Zhou, Zhou Gong Juntai, Defender of the Eastern Capital?"

Seeing the blood-covered Zhou fierce tiger across from him sheathe his sword and then ask so courteously, Zhou Zong suddenly felt a little strength return to his body, as if the part of his three hun and seven po that had fled had come back.

He was just about to answer when he suddenly heard a furious shout. "Who do you think you are? Before you stands the son of the Great Zhou Emperor, a clansman of the Great Tang imperial house, the Duke of Shouchang Commandery — how dare you answer while seated!"

It was Li Cunhui's personal attendant, seeing that Zhou Zong actually intended to return the greeting while seated in his chair, who had roared at him. Zhou Zong immediately flushed red, because it truly was a breach of etiquette on his part.

"You talk too much!" Li Cunhui pretended to be angry and glared at his attendant, then reached out and helped the just-risen Zhou Zong back into his seat, saying, "Elder Zhou is a senior; it is no matter if he speaks while seated."

By this point, how would Zhou Zong dare remain seated? The moment his backside touched the chair, he sprang up as if it were scalding.

"May I ask, Lord Duke, which branch of my dynasty's imperial clan are you related to?"

Uh! Zhou Zong had mistaken Li Cunhui, this "Great Tang" clansman, for a blood relative of the "Great Tang" of Li Bian and Li Jing.

A playful smile appeared on Li Cunhui's face as he said, deliberately lightly.

"Forgive me for troubling you with the question, elder. My ancestor was the Lingzhou Area Commander and Prince Su of Changping, the honored Li Shuliang, a meritorious prince who helped found the realm. His descendants have fallen on hard times, and I am ashamed to even mention my forebears!"

In fact, Li Cunhui's ancestor was not Prince of Changping Li Shuliang at all. That man was a cousin of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan, the great-grandfather of the honey-tongued, sword-hearted Li Linfu, and he died in battle resisting the Turks in the early Tang — a true pillar of the imperial clan.

Li Cunhui's actual ancestor was Li Shuliang's sixth younger brother, Li Youliang, Prince of Changle Commandery.

But since Li Youliang had been executed for plotting rebellion, whenever Li Cunhui's family mentioned their ancestors, they generally substituted Li Shuliang for Li Youliang, or simply cited Li Yuan's sixth uncle, Li Yi.

Zhou Zong flushed crimson again. Only now did he realize that the man before him was genuine Great Tang imperial clan stock.

Though the branch was remote to an extreme, the lineage had been passed down for several hundred years, and the blood truly ran in his veins.

Compared with Li Cunhui, the father-and-son pair Li Bian and Li Jing, who falsely claimed descent from the Tang imperial house, instantly became counterfeit goods.

Zhou Zong understood this well, because back when Li Bian had gone hunting for an ancestor, Zhou Zong had been there helping him scheme.

In truth, it might not even have been false. The Tang had held the realm for nearly three hundred years, and before that, the Longxi Li clan — the branch from which the Tang imperial line sprang — had already been passed down for over a hundred years.

Over those four hundred-odd years, people bearing Li Tang blood had spread across the entire realm. It was not impossible that Li Bian's ancestors really had been imperial clan members; he simply could not prove it, and so had to grab at any ancestor he could find.

Having been twice put in his place, Zhou Zong could no longer keep up the pose of a loyal minister. He could only bow his head and clasp his hands in salute to Li Cunhui.

"Zhou Zong, Vice Defender of Jiangdu Prefecture in the Southern Kingdom, greets the Commandery Duke Li of the Great Zhou. The Commandery Duke is a noble of the Great Zhou — why then has he led his tiger-and-wolf host to break my Eastern Capital?"

Li Cunhui gave a cold chuckle. "Li Jing falsely claimed descent from the Great Tang imperial house and usurped the throne as emperor first. Then he sent troops north, took Xuzhou, and still wanted Songzhou after that.

My father is the lord ordained by Heaven. In obeying Heaven and answering the people's will, what is improper about chastising him?"

Zhou Zong wanted very much to retort, but he could not. You had gone all the way to Songzhou — and Songzhou is only a little over three hundred li from the Zhou capital at Kaifeng. If you could go to Songzhou, could others not be allowed to come to your Eastern Capital?

Zhou Zong also had many questions he wanted to ask — for instance, how the Zhou cavalry had reached Yangzhou — but at this moment he dared not voice any of them. He could only stand there awkwardly, rooted to the spot.

Li Cunhui did not mind letting the old man humiliate himself a few more times. Only after Zhou Zong fell silent did he speak.

"Since things have come to this, I must ask you, Elder Zhou, to issue a few proclamations to reassure the people. And where is Administrative Assistant Feng hiding? I would trouble you to tell me that as well."

Li Cunhui had come to find Zhou Zong precisely because he wanted him to cooperate in issuing proclamations to calm the populace. Although the Eastern Capital, Yangzhou, had a garrison of only three thousand, it held over a hundred thousand residents.

If chaos broke out — looting, arson, murder — it would be a serious problem.

After all, Li Cunhui had only three thousand men. He could not watch over a Yangzhou in turmoil, and he could not send all his men out to keep order either. That was why he had prepared to have Zhou Zong, the Vice Defender of the Southern Tang's Eastern Capital, post proclamations to reassure the people.

Faced with Li Cunhui's demand, Zhou Zong, whose resistance had gradually drained away over the course of their conversation, could only agree.

Having obtained Zhou Zong's proclamations and golden seal, Li Cunhui immediately retained the officials and clerks of the Southern Tang Jiangdu Prefecture Defender's office, ordering them to carry on as before and go out together with the Zhou troops to soothe the common people.

This was the result of Li Cunhui's hard study and frantic cramming after the last time he had rushed into the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng, ahead of everyone else, yet had been unable to accomplish anything and could only watch helplessly as Murong Xinzhang shone brilliantly.

Coming out of the Defender's office, Li Cunhui left Huangfu Chong to keep a close watch on Zhou Zong, and immediately summoned Gao Xingzhou. At just that moment, Zhao Kuangyin also arrived with several dozen riders, serving as couriers.

Li Cunhui at once had the two of them find the clerks of the Defender's office, obtain the keys to the Eastern Capital's official granaries, and bring out a portion of the cloth, grain, and oil stored there.

Then they were to set up twelve distribution points in the various wards of Yangzhou and hand all of it out.

Gao Huaide looked at Li Cunhui in puzzlement. "Didn't you have that Zhou Zong post proclamations to calm the people? Why open the granaries and distribute grain as well?"

Li Cunhui smiled faintly. Just as Murong Xinzhang had once postured before them, he now put on an air of having everything figured out before Gao Huaide and said:

"One cannot always rely on others. Zhou Zong's proclamations will only slightly ease the panic of the Yangzhou commoners. Only when we distribute everything in the official granaries, and they gain some benefit, will they stop being afraid and even support us.

Once the commoners support us, we can make use of them and temporarily gain a firm footing."

Zhao Kuangyin's brows twitched. There was another advantage to this: once the Yangzhou commoners had taken money and grain from the official granaries, they would no longer be able to send word to the Southern Tang court without a twinge of conscience.

"Commandery Duke, why not take out some silver and coin from the official granaries as well — and give a bit extra at that? In the end, it is the Southern Tang sovereign who foots the bill."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Li Cunhui laughed loudly. "Well said. I'll put you in charge of it."

Then he turned and looked at Yao Yuanfu and the several cavalry officers of Captain rank.

"Detach three hundred men to patrol the whole city. Anyone who dares commit crimes — no matter who it is — execute without mercy!"

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