Chapter 562: The Despicable Past Deeds of the Southern Tang Li Family

At the end of the fourth month, Murong Xinzhang led seven thousand elite cavalry into the Southern Tang's eastern capital, Yangzhou.

With this, the Zhou troops inside the city reached a strength of ten thousand men — and they were the most elite ten thousand in the entire Zhou state.

Apart from the five thousand men at Zhang Zhao's side, the finest troops of the Zhou state's six personal guard armies and the seven garrisons of the four directions were all gathered here.

Murong Xinzhang was therefore very cautious. Thanks to Li Cunhui having stabilized the situation in Yangzhou, Murong Xinzhang simply divided the ten thousand men into three parts.

The left and right armies encamped outside Yangzhou, while the central army encamped north of the city.

As for public order inside Yangzhou, Murong Xinzhang simply left it to Yangzhou's original Southern Tang prefectural and county troops — except that most of the officers of these prefectural and county troops had been replaced with the Zhou state's own armored soldiers.

Moreover, they were only responsible for public order, not for the city's defense, which also reduced the possibility of them turning their coats.

As for how the city's defense should specifically be arranged — well! Murong Xinzhang did not arrange it at all. With ten thousand iron cavalry in Yangzhou, did they even need to defend the city?

These soldiers had come to fight in the open field!

Not long after Murong Xinzhang entered Yangzhou, Bai Congxin also led the rear army of five thousand cavalry and seized the Southern Tang's Jianwu Command.

At this time, a command was not the same as the command-prefectures of the Song dynasty. In this era, a command could be seen as the reserve of a military province, or a Military Governor with lesser authority.

Originally, Jianwu Command also had a Tianchang Defense Commissioner, and Jianwu Command had several thousand men, more than enough to defend the locality.

But the tragedy was that after Hucile defected to the Southern Tang, the Jianwu Command troops had been transferred to Xuzhou, and then, together with Liu Yanzhen, had all been wiped out by the shores of Mengzhu Marsh.

Thus, by this time Jianwu Command was basically an empty shell, utterly incapable of resisting Bai Congxin's attack.

And the fall of Jianwu Command was fatal for the Southern Tang.

Because this command-prefecture, located in what later ages would call Tianchang in Anhui, held the last stretch of hilly terrain north of Yangzhou. Once an enemy crossed Tianchang, the land immediately opened into flat, unobstructed plains.

What was worse, Gaoyou Lake at this time was only a small body of water, unable to serve as a barrier against northern cavalry. So Jianwu Command was, at present, the crucial shield between Huainan and Jiangnan.

Together with Chuzhou to the southwest, one was the northern gate of the eastern capital Yangzhou, and the other was the northern gate of the western capital Jiangning.

By occupying Jianwu Command, Bai Congxin had effectively severed Yangzhou's connection with Haozhou and Sizhou in Huainan, so that any force coming to Yangzhou's aid could only come from Jiangning in Jiangnan.

And only after Murong Xinzhang had accomplished all this did the loyal subjects of the Southern Tang in places like Chuzhou — in truth, the beneficiaries of the military-field and land-grant policies — arrive wailing outside Yangzhou.

This was truly not because they were slow, but because the Zhou army, born from the Guiyi Army, mobilized and assembled with terrifying speed.

The Zhou troops entering Chuzhou needed only a single day to complete three tasks: the battle plan, mobilization and assembly, and the selection of elite troops.

They also had plenty of tall, fine horses, and could ride at the speed of one man with two or even three horses in their dash on Yangzhou.

By contrast, the Southern Tang "loyal subjects" in places like Chuzhou, first, dared not take the main roads, and second, had no good horses. That they arrived only one day later than Murong Xinzhang still counted as them being fast.

Poor wretches — they had run all the way from Chuzhou to Yangzhou to report the news and weep and plead, only for the gates to open and — good heavens — Yangzhou was now the Zhou state's too!

Toward such men, Murong Xinzhang showed no courtesy whatsoever, greeting them directly with blade and spear. Several dozen were almost all killed, and only a few were spared and sent on past Yangzhou, specifically to carry the news to Li Jing.

And after killing those men, Murong Xinzhang hastened to confer with Li Cunhui, Yao Yuanfu, and the others on how to draw the Southern Tang army across the river as quickly as possible.

After all, their current rule was not yet secure. The sooner they crushed the Southern Tang army, the sooner they would be safe.

It was at this time that the plans of the Han clan head and the Chen clan head were reported up by the Brocade Guard.

Of these, the Han clan head had long since been bought off by the Brocade Guard, and had already persuaded his entire Han clan, as well as the fishermen of several nearby villages, to swear to follow the Son of Heaven of Zhou unto death.

And the background of the Chen clan head had also been fully investigated.

His son had been run down and killed by the great pleasure barge of Li Hongji, Prince of Nanchang and son of Li Jing, and his daughter-in-law had drowned herself in the water because of it.

The Chen clan head had six daughters but only this one son, and in the end the son had died without leaving him even a single descendant.

Grief-stricken beyond measure, the Chen clan head had lost all will to live, and dreamed day and night of revenge. He was utterly trustworthy.

Li Cunhui nodded with satisfaction and said, "Taizhou is no more than one hundred forty li from Yangzhou. Cavalry can cover it in a day and a night. As long as someone opens the gate, taking it is no harder than lifting a hand.

Moreover, all the imperial clan of Yang Wu are in the Yongning Palace at Hailing in Taizhou. I refuse to believe that if we take Taizhou, Li Jing will dare not be alarmed."

A trace of a smile lifted the corner of Murong Xinzhang's mouth. The descendants of Yang Xingmi were, in truth, of little use to the Zhou state.

Because Zhang Zhao had founded his state as a loyal subject of the Great Tang, holding the two great righteous causes of loyal return to the nation and the expulsion of the northern barbarians. He had no need whatsoever to hold Yang Xingmi's descendants in order to obtain legitimacy.

And although the common people of Jiangnan did indeed feel gratitude toward Yang Xingmi's Wu state for the peace it had brought them, it had not reached the point where the mere mention of Yang Xingmi would make them throw caution to the wind.

Therefore, neither Zhang Zhao nor the generals below him had any intention of making use of the Yang Wu imperial clan in Taizhou.

But now that matters had reached this point, Murong Xinzhang realized that although he had no use for the feeble legitimacy and rallying power of Yang Xingmi's descendants, he could use them to deal a savage blow to the prestige of Li Jing and even the Southern Tang imperial house.

The reason was that what Li Bian and his son Li Jing had done was simply too revolting.

That Li Bian had made the Yang Wu line into puppets — that went without saying; any normal ruler would do the same. Even poisoning the last Wu emperor Yang Pu, who had never held the slightest power, could be justified.

But after moving the entire Yang Wu imperial clan to the Yongning Palace in Taizhou, what the Li father and son did next was utterly despicable.

With the last remnants of an imperial line like this, you either harden your heart and kill them all, or you scatter and resettle them, then pick a few of the docile ones, grant them some titles, and keep them fed to wear down their will, letting them slowly accept their fate. That would also be acceptable.

But to lock their entire family — over a hundred people — in a single small palace, forbid them from going out, forbid them from normal marriage, and try to pen them up and breed them like livestock — that was going too far.

Over these decades, because they could not contact the outside world, the Yang Wu imperial clan had begun to reproduce among themselves inside the Yongning Palace. First it was cousins with cousins, then even full brothers and sisters.

By now, a whole crop of deformed and imbecilic children had resulted.

This affair, which utterly exceeded the limits of human civilization, trampled on the bottom line of human morality, and nauseated any normal person, had been brought about entirely by Li Bian and his son Li Jing.

Even the common people and officials of the Southern Tang pitied the plight of the Yang descendants and felt that Li Bian and his son Li Jing had gone too far.

And right now, only a small number of officials and some locals in Taizhou knew of it. If it were ever exposed, the entire Li house of the Southern Tang would be utterly disgraced — even the Southern Tang court itself would be utterly disgraced.

In history, the moment Li Jing heard that Emperor Shizong of Zhou, Guo Rong, had any thought of touching the Yang family, he immediately sent Yin Yanfan to kill them all, then had Yin Yanfan cut in half at the waist to cover it up.

It was the same now. Although Murong Xinzhang did not know what Li Jing had done in history, he understood very well that as long as he held the descendants of Yang Xingmi, Li Jing would have no choice but to cross the river and try to seize them back.

"Sanlang, then shall you make the trip to Taizhou?"

Murong Xinzhang looked at Li Cunhui and asked. This was the first time he had addressed Li Cunhui by his ranking as Zhang Zhao's adopted son.

Li Cunhui was briefly startled. As the years had passed, the competitive spirit of his callow youth seemed to have dimmed considerably.

Many of the painful memories of being "bullied" by Murong Xinzhang in those bygone days now seemed, in hindsight, somewhat laughable.

"Then give me two thousand men, Elder Brother! Once I take Taizhou, I will bring back all the wealth and goods in the treasury, along with the entire Yang Wu imperial clan."

Murong Xinzhang nodded, and the two exchanged a smile.

Li Jing now felt completely numb. One moment earlier, he had still been discussing with his court ministers the matter of moving the Tianchang Defense Commissioner of Jianwu Command to Chuzhou, and then establishing a military province in Chuzhou as a strongpoint for resisting the Zhou army's southward advance.

Immediately after that came word that the eastern capital, Yangzhou, had fallen. The entire Southern Tang court was baffled — where had this enemy come from, to take Yangzhou so quickly?

And now the mystery was solved, for the weeping Prefect of Haizhou and other Huainan officials appeared before the assembled crowd.

In an instant, the news of Chuzhou's fall swept through the Southern Tang court, and everyone was too shocked to speak.

Only now did they learn that Xuzhou had been taken without shedding a drop of blood — that the Defender of the Northern Capital, Military Governor of Wuning, Duke of Xu, Hu Lile, and his wife had died after drinking poisoned wine together.

They also learned that the Son of Heaven of the Zhou had personally led a great army, rested only three days at Xuzhou, then suddenly struck beneath the walls of Chuzhou — and had smoothly taken Chuzhou by abolishing the levies and military land grants.

At this, how many officials on the Southern Tang court turned ashen-faced. To do away with the military land grants and levies — that was taking their very lives!

Moreover, the absurd report of the eastern capital's fall turned out to be the worst of all their conjectures: the Zhou iron cavalry really had made a lightning raid on the eastern capital.

The atmosphere of terror did not last long. Chief Minister Feng Yansi suddenly leapt to his feet and, disregarding all protocol, ran up before Li Jing and urgently whispered a warning.

"Sage, Chuzhou has fallen, and the eastern capital, Yangzhou, has been breached. The most important place left on the north bank of the river is Taizhou."

Li Jing at once felt a dull ache between his legs, and immediately understood why Feng Yansi had jumped up.

Ah! If only he had listened to his subordinates' advice earlier and brought the Yang family to Jiangning to keep them under control — or, while they were all nearly reduced to imbeciles, loosened their restrictions. Now there was real trouble.

Bian Hao, who had just been transferred back from Xinzhou to take up the post of Commander of the Imperial Guard's Divine Guard Army, grabbed hold of an official who had fled across the river and demanded: "How many men do the Zhou have at Yangzhou, exactly?"

The official hastily answered: "Their vanguard is no more than three or four thousand, and their total force is only around ten thousand."

Bian Hao immediately memorialized Li Jing: "The Zhou army is running wild. With ten thousand men they made a four-hundred-li dash and broke our great city. Though they have many elite armored warriors, their momentum is spent — they are now a weary, exhausted force.

Furthermore, the hearts of the people north of the river are with us. The western capital, as well as the Military Governor of the Runzhou Naval Army, the Jiangyin Army, and the Jinghai Commission (Nantong), all still hold crack troops.

Your servant begs Your Majesty to assemble the finest troops and cross the river at once. Do not let the Zhou army gain a firm foothold. If the Son of Heaven of the Zhou comes to Yangzhou with his whole realm's strength, the court will be in grave peril."

Bian Hao had by this time already begun to distinguish himself, and had won considerable merit in the campaign that destroyed Wang Min. Because he was honest and generous, and never argued over credit, the entire Southern Tang court regarded him as a famous general.

In the past, Li Jing would never have dared commit this last bit of military strength. But now, on the verge of utter public humiliation, he could no longer afford such caution.

He made his decision: send troops across the river, and display his strength right at his own doorstep.

(End of Chapter)

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