Chapter 577: The Victors' Dilemma

Zhang Zhao indeed had not yet crossed the Yangtze at Hezhou. Of his thirty-five thousand troops, only the five hundred cavalry under Zhao Kuangyin, the two thousand Wuning Army men led by Hu Guang, and a small number of naval forces had crossed.

This was partly because there were not enough boats for the crossing. At the time, in order to deceive the Southern Tang, none of the naval warships around Guabu had been moved.

All they had now were fishing boats seized along the way and a few found in Hezhou.

Of course, the greatest reason was still that Zhang Zhao had no intention of thoroughly conquering the Southern Tang.

And this was somewhat a matter of necessity.

It had been nearly five months since he set out on campaign. The troops Zhang Zhao had brought, especially the elite Hexi soldiers of his main force, were quite unaccustomed to the heat and humidity of Jiangnan.

More importantly, from the time the Hexi troops left Hexi and entered the Central Plains, it had been over a year since they had returned to Hexi, and homesickness in the army was extremely severe.

Giving them leave to return to Hexi and Longyou could already be said to be a matter of utmost urgency.

And with Liu Zhiyuan still unresolved, Zhang Zhao could not continue wasting what little fighting spirit remained on Jiangnan.

After a night of discussion, taking stock of the situation of all the armies, Zhang Zhao had in fact already made his judgment in his heart.

If he made a show of crossing at Caishiji and the Southern Tang court still did not react, then he would simply not cross the river.

But if it came to that, his reputation would certainly suffer. The soldiers below, having run several hundred li and gained nothing, would surely harbor resentment, and he would have to use his own authority to suppress their discontent.

But that was no long-term solution, nor could he always use that trick.

Zhang Zhao clenched his fist. Perhaps if there truly was no other way, then he could only strip all the wealthy households of the Southern Tang north of the river clean, carry off all the residents of Yangzhou, Taizhou, Chuzhou, and the other prefectures and counties, and then burn the prefectural cities of Yangzhou, Taizhou, and the rest.

Only in this way could he have enough wealth to reward his soldiers, deal a heavy blow to the Southern Tang's economy, and also make himself look more like a victor.

But once it came to that, the results of this southern campaign would be discounted by half.

He could win the hearts of Chuzhou and the lands as far as Huainan, but he would lose the hearts of Jiangnan. The next time he came, the Southern Tang's resistance would be even more resolute.

He could only hope that Li Jing would be a little smarter and come quickly to kowtow and beg for mercy. Only that could avoid a lose-lose outcome.

So what Zhang Zhao was now agonizing over was no longer whether to cross the river, but whether he really had to go so far, and whether he would lose the air of benevolence and righteousness he had painstakingly cultivated on the Zhou army, whose foundation was the Guiyi Army.

Was it worth it, in the end?

Of course, there was also one small worry at his rear. Ma Shacai, who was garrisoning Chuzhou, reported that Liu Renzhan, the Military Governor of the Shouzhou Qinghuai Army of the Southern Tang, had once again come sneaking over.

Fifteen thousand men of the Qinghuai Army had again encamped below General's Ridge northwest of Chuzhou, and had also gathered in a portion of the Haozhou Dingyuan Army that had fled into the mountains.

Ma Shacai had sent over a thousand cavalry to attack them once, and he found that Liu Renzhan was felling trees and building fortifications on General's Ridge like a madman, and his arrangements were very methodical.

Apart from the first surprise attack, in which he killed several hundred Qinghuai Army men, Ma Shacai had since found no opening.

These ten or twenty thousand men seemed as if they were going to make their home on the mountain. They did not sally forth, but simply huddled on the heights. Ma Shacai had no choice but to send out roving patrol cavalry to keep them under constant watch.

Bai Congxin frowned at Zhang Zhao's side. "Sage, why not give me ten thousand elite cavalry to go coordinate with Ma Shacai and wipe out these Shouzhou troops?"

Zhang Zhao rubbed his chin. "If we truly went to attack them, we would be falling for their scheme. Who would have thought! Liu Renzhan's elder brother is Yang Xingmi's son-in-law, yet he is so loyal to Li Jing.

This fellow knows we are about to cross the river, so he is throwing his own body to a starving tiger.

It is just that we are not a starving tiger, but a tiger that is nearly full. If we exerted our full strength to take down the twenty thousand men Liu Renzhan has posted on General's Ridge, we would no longer have the strength or the heart to cross the river."

Bai Congxin was stunned for a moment, and only after a long while did he sigh with emotion. "This is a loyal minister! Who would have thought that the lord of Southern Wu, so lacking in virtue, would have such a loyal minister."

Zhang Zhao was not surprised by Bai Congxin's sigh. The Bai family had been moved by the Tibetans onto the Qingtang Plateau, and he had grown up in the circles of horse bandits. In the northwest, one could not say there were no loyal ministers, only that, because of the harshness of the natural conditions, serving the powerful and clinging to the thighs of the strong was a very normal thing.

After following Zhang Zhao, although he knew of loyalty and righteousness, all he had seen along the way were Shi Jingtang selling out his country, Du Chongwei bending his knee, and Hulele betraying his allegiance — such things happening all around him.

So much so that in Bai Congxin's heart, he only felt that one ought to be loyal and righteous, but as for what loyalty and righteousness actually looked like, he had no concrete sense of it.

It was only when Chuzhou fell, when high and low alike surrendered, when even Prefect Guo Tingwei capitulated, but a minor Registrar Li Yanzou leaped from the city wall and killed himself for his country, that he began to understand a little.

Zhang Zhao naturally would not let slip this chance to educate everyone. Pointing at the broad Yangtze, he said to the generals around him.

"Jiangnan is a rich land, outstanding people and a numinous place, with many men of loyalty and righteousness. What a pity that the Lord of Wu, Li Jing, cannot use them. If one day We come to possess all of Jiangnan, We shall certainly employ them well!"

However, just as Zhang Zhao was preparing to deliver a lesson on loyalty and righteousness, good news finally arrived.

He no longer needed to agonize. Zhao Kuangyin sent word that the Southern Tang, led by Sun Cheng, Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, with Feng Yanlu and Han Xizai as deputies, had already reached Caishiji on the opposite bank.

Sage Zhang let out a soft breath of relief. As it happened, all the civil and military officials were around him, and with a grand wave of his hand he said.

"All of you ministers, return to your camps. Order the soldiers of all the guards to don their iron armor and mount their fine horses. Let these men of Southern Wu have a good look at the might of our Great Zhou soldiers."

Although Sun Cheng was a northerner, his build was not tall. Like Feng Yanlu, he was around one meter sixty-five.

Han Xizai, however, a big man of Shandong, lived up to that title, standing at least one meter seventy-five.

Among the three, when it came to understanding military affairs, Sun Cheng far surpassed Han Xizai and Feng Yanlu, who had no experience at all.

When they came ashore at the Hezhou docks, they saw that from the docks to the prefectural city of Hezhou, the soldiers along the road mostly wore iron armor faced with red, white, and blue cloth, holding long spears and great sabers, standing like towering mountains, lofty and motionless, utterly silent. Several thousand men seemed as if cast from iron.

Among them they also saw several thousand elite cavalry, men and horses moving in perfect unison, the warhorses adorned with gold, silver, and brocade, jingling with every step. The horses stood shoulder-high to a man, wore no bridles, yet did not neigh wildly or run about.

Feng Yanlu, Han Xizai, and the others, leading the envoy party through the midst of this vast host, were so frightened they could not speak, sweat streaming without cease, their legs trembling. Only Sun Cheng's expression remained somewhat composed.

Once they entered the city of Hezhou, Man Xiong was ordered to meet the Southern Tang envoys at the gate. Behind him, several dozen armored warriors of the Mountain-Shakers were not only massive as bears and tigers, but the confidence born of campaigning across ten thousand li and the killing intent radiating from them frightened even Sun Cheng into losing all color in his face.

It was only when they neared the Hezhou government office that the Southern Tang party felt as if the clouds had parted and they saw the sun. That killing intent which had pressed them almost to the point of being unable to walk dissipated considerably.

At the gate of the government office, those standing guard were attendants in brocade robes and personal guards in golden armor. Sun Cheng knew these were the Brocade-Clad Guards, the personal guards of the Shaoming Emperor of Great Zhou.

The three men waited outside for their summons. Barely the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed, yet they felt as if they had walked through hell. Sun Cheng could not help but sigh.

"In years past, when I served under Lord Zhu Shouyin, I saw the heavenly troops of Li Yazi of the Zhuang Temple, invincible as they were, and they were no more than this.

After the Central Plains fell into chaos, though the imperial guards of the Tang and the Jin were brave and martial, compared with the armored soldiers of the Lord of Zhou, they too fell far short."

Han Xizai, drenched in cold sweat from fright, nodded along. "Our Great Tang's six armies of the imperial guard are far inferior to the Zhou army. Henceforth we should humbly serve the superior state and not stir up trouble."

Feng Yanlu nodded with a heavy heart. He had twice been captured, and had deeply felt the strength of the Zhou army.

Before long, Zhang Zhao ordered them summoned, and the three hurried inside the government office.

The Hezhou government office was not large, and Zhang Zhao was in no mood to convert it into a temporary palace or anything of the sort. He had simply occupied the prefectural office and used its main hall as a place for deliberation.

With Sun Cheng in the lead, the three men prostrated themselves on the ground with perfect decorum. Not one of them dared to pull any trick about not kneeling to the ruler of another state. There was not even one who dared look directly at Zhang Zhao.

"Your outer subject Sun Cheng, Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs of the Tang state, by command of the Son of Heaven of the Tang state, comes to pay respects to the Son of Heaven of Zhou, the superior state, and reverently wishes the Son of Heaven ten thousand years of life!"

Zhang Zhao rose gently from his seat and came to stand before Sun Cheng's head. Indifferently he asked, "Our Great Zhou, having received the recommendation of the imperial clans of the Former Dynasty and the Later Dynasty, and having gained the support of the myriad people of Guanzhong and the capital region, takes the restoration of the state as its own duty, and only thus has inherited the virtue of the Great Tang.

Your lord, dwelling in a remote corner, is reckless and presumptuous. From whence comes this title, 'the Tang state'?"

Sun Cheng pressed his forehead to the ground and answered in a clear voice: "The Son of Heaven of the superior state upholds great righteousness, and thereby inherits the virtue of the Great Tang. My lord is of Tang descent, and thus inherits the virtue of his ancestors."

"He does have some quick wit. But I have heard that Li Bian claims descent from Prince Jian, Li Ke. Prince Jian was merely the tenth son of Emperor Xian, and never took the throne. What virtue do Li Bian and his son Li Jing possess, to call themselves Sons of Heaven?"

Cold sweat streamed down Sun Cheng's face, but he still did his utmost to argue: "Since the great dynasty's fortune declined, all under heaven—Wang Min, Southern Han, Ma Chu—have been able to proclaim themselves emperors. My lord, being of the imperial clan, is not overstepping in calling himself Son of Heaven."

"Good!" Zhang Zhao seized on Sun Cheng's slip at once. "Since it is only because the great dynasty's fortune declined that the imperial clan could barely claim the title of Son of Heaven—now that I have inherited the great dynasty's virtue, will your lord renounce his imperial title and return to the state?"

Sun Cheng could not answer this, because when he had departed, Li Jing's meaning had been that ceding territory and paying indemnities mattered little, but he must do his utmost to preserve his position as Son of Heaven.

Seeing Sun Cheng at a loss for words, Han Xizai hurried forward, bowed, and replied: "The virtue of the Son of Heaven and the possession of the sacred vessel are the sole prerogative of the sovereign—not a matter for ministers to discuss. It must be decided by my lord."

Zhang Zhao narrowed his eyes. The three envoys had arrived quickly, which meant they had certainly already seen that he had stationed only a few thousand troops at Caishiji, and had no intention of crossing the river in force for the time being.

On the one hand, this would heighten their sense of urgency, making them want to reach an agreement with Zhang Zhao before his army was at their gates.

On the other hand, it would surely bolster their confidence—after all, with no large-scale river crossing, the Zhou army on the Qinhuai River looked easier to deal with.

At this thought, Sage Zhang flew into a rage. He jabbed his finger at Han Xizai. "You three came as envoys, yet you did not even seek instructions on so great a matter as the state's virtue. It is clear Li Jing has no heart for peace talks, and is as arrogant and perverse as ever.

In that case, there is nothing more to discuss. Go back and return only after you have asked clearly."

The moment Zhang Zhao's words fell, before Sun Cheng and the other two could plead, Murong Xinzhang, who had long been positioned for this, leapt out.

"Great King, this man is the Southern Wu chancellor. He must know the inner workings of Jiangning. Better to keep him here and question him about Jiangning's true strength.

It may well be that the Lord of Wu has already changed clothes and fled, and is no longer in Jiangning at all."

"Indeed! Sun Cheng, I ask you: how many fighting men remain in Jiangning, and is Li Jing actually in the city or not?" Zhang Zhao immediately pointed at Sun Cheng and barked the question.

Sun Cheng's head spun. The situation had shifted far too quickly—he had clearly come as an envoy, so how had it turned into him being made to betray his country?

At once Sun Cheng was both frantic and full of regret. "I am chancellor of the Tang state—how could I sell my lord for glory? The Sage has taken Yangzhou and still wants to cross the river. How does that differ from the tyrant Qin?"

Zhang Zhao then feigned fury. "Throw Sun Cheng and Han Xizai into the dungeon. If you will not speak, I will make you speak."

With that, Zhang Zhao pointed at Li Cunhui. "Cunhui, my boy, drive Feng Yanlu out. Let him go back and tell Li Jing to choose someone who can actually make decisions, and only then return."

Li Cunhui understood at once. He personally seized Feng Yanlu and hauled him toward the door.

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