Chapter 591: Past Causes, Present Consequences

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He had returned home full of longing. But then he suddenly discovered that home was no longer the place he had imagined.

And his feeling toward home had shifted from warmth to a certain unease, and even gave rise to a desire to flee this place.

Zhang Xiaobao was exactly like that. After spending three nights in Lower White Horse Village, he truly felt there was nothing left for him there, so he ran back to Liangzhou City.

For no other reason than that Lower White Horse Village had lost its former liveliness.

Of the companions who had once joined him in scorning high lords and marquises, some had already gone their separate ways, while others lay buried behind the village.

The former he could not see for now, which only deepened his longing. The latter he would never see again, leaving only sorrow.

The equal-field households who remained had never been particularly outstanding back then, or else they would surely have followed the Sage. Zhang Xiaobao could never quite find common ground with them.

The lives of the equal-field households, though one could call them prosperous, always seemed to lack a certain vitality.

Moreover, with the labor force diminished, Zhang Xiaobao could clearly sense that the land's hold on the people around him was weakening.

And in recent days, a new generation of bold young heroes from the various villages had come riding tall horses to pay their respects to Zhang Xiaobao.

Without exception, they overlooked Zhang Xiaobao's crippled leg, instead regarding it as a badge of a true man.

What interested them was how Zhang Xiaobao had left Khitan corpses strewn across the field and sent the Southern Tang army wailing for their mothers.

What they hoped for, likewise, was to follow the Sage as soldiers in war, but they no longer seemed to care much for land, preferring gold, silver, brocade, and silk.

As for farming, they cared even less.

And no sooner had Zhang Xiaobao returned to Liangzhou than someone came looking for him again.

It turned out that Pei Yuan, Vice Defender of the Western Capital and Governor of Chengtian Prefecture, had sent someone to invite Zhang Xiaobao over for a talk.

Zhang Xiaobao was somewhat puzzled, for in the past, although Pei Yuan could be counted as an important member of the Hexi and Longyou inner circle,

in reality, because Pei Yuan had long been stationed at Lingzhou in Shuofang and was not particularly close to the military, he had followed the path of a regional civil official.

Therefore Zhang Xiaobao's impression of him was somewhat vague—he merely knew him, far from being close—and he had no idea what this powerful Duke of Hedong Commandery wanted with him.

Nevertheless, since it was Pei Yuan summoning him, Zhang Xiaobao dared not be negligent. He immediately washed up and followed the minor clerk from Chengtian Prefecture who had come to deliver the message, hurrying to the Chengtian Prefecture office.

Pei Yuan was the same as ever—though not old, he always gave people a sense of great dignity.

Without waiting for Zhang Xiaobao to bow in greeting, he warmly pulled him to a seat. Nor did he speak of official business, but instead asked with a chuckle what Zhang Xiaobao thought of what had happened at the banquet.

This immediately made Zhang Xiaobao feel awkward, because he had never imagined that after returning home, he would be asked to compose poetry at a banquet. He could only smile bitterly and grumble that he was unlearned and untalented.

Unexpectedly, Pei Yuan also shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "Erlang, you got off easy. If you couldn't compose one, they wouldn't force you.

But I have it far worse. Staying here in Liangzhou day after day, the moment there's a banquet, they force me to compose poetry.

And it's all this messy doggerel. I wonder how Fan Zhi, Xue Juzheng, and the others will laugh at me when word of it reaches the Central Plains."

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaobao could only force out a few stiff laughs, because he could tell there was more to Pei Yuan's words than met the ear.

Seeing that Zhang Xiaobao did not take up the thread, Pei Yuan was not angered. He merely chuckled and went on speaking to himself.

"Liangzhou was originally the land where the dragon arose, but our starting point was low. The households of Liangzhou and Lanzhou were never very plentiful to begin with.

When the Son of Heaven entered Guanzhong, he took a full fifty thousand troops with him, and it seems he will continue to levy more.

And these fifty thousand troops, together with their families, amount to at least two or three hundred thousand people. Out of every ten households, three or four have left! Is there still anyone to farm the land at your home?"

At this question, Zhang Xiaobao could only nod, and then shake his head.

For he too had noticed that something was indeed amiss. The equal-field land that everyone had once regarded as life itself now had a certain flavor of being tasteless to eat, yet a pity to discard.

Lower White Horse Village—such fine land—much of it was already close to lying fallow.

The equal-field households who had gone to the Central Plains had gained great benefits and could no longer be bothered with this meager harvest.

Those still at home who had not yet gone to the Central Plains spent every moment practicing archery, horsemanship, and spearplay, waiting for the Sage's summons, and seemed to have no mind for farming either.

After Zhang Xiaobao said all this, a glint of light flashed through Pei Yuan's eyes, for he could see that Zhang Xiaobao was no mere fighting man.

So he put on a helpless expression and continued, "This is the present state of Liangzhou. The land where the dragon arose has nearly lost all its people. And being situated on a vital trade route, its economy flourishes.

Those who remain in the city are mostly of the older generation, with money and leisure, and nothing left to do but make merry.

Do they really want to compose poetry? No—they use poetry, Daoist robes, and netted caps to flaunt their noble Han identity."

Zhang Xiaobao could only look at Pei Yuan helplessly. "Lord Pei, why tell all this to a lowly soldier like me? These are not matters I am fit to consider."

Pei Yuan shook his head and led him outside the office.

As the two walked and talked, Pei Yuan asked, "Do you know? The Duke of Huaiqing was not originally this sort of man.

Back in Dunhuang, when Cao Yuanshen and the others were so full of resentment, the Duke of Huaiqing was fiercely opposed, and several times nearly came to blows with Cao Yuanshen.

But ever since His Majesty made the Duke of Huaiqing Defender of the Western Capital, he has let himself go.

Feasting every day, reveling every night. Not only does he not let his sons and grandsons practice riding and archery, he even has them join him in wanton excess, drowning in wine and flesh.

This is not what they truly wish, but rather an excess of caution.

The Sage has no brothers, and his own sons are not yet grown. Sitting in the post of Defender of the Western Capital, the Duke of Huaiqing lives in constant fear that people will say he harbors disloyal thoughts, so he chooses to defile his own name in this way.

Now, if the Sage were content to shut his gates and live quietly after unifying the realm and making the golden goblet whole, then the Duke of Huaiqing's choice would be a safe one.

But I observe His Majesty's ambition, and it much resembles the old Taizong Wen Emperor's will to extend the realm by a thousand li and encompass all within the universe.

If that is so, then this wave of extravagance and pleasure-seeking that the Duke of Huaiqing has stirred up is no blessing for Liangzhou."

Zhang Xiaobao was beginning to catch the drift. Pei Yuan was tirelessly analyzing the present state of Liangzhou for him, including Zhang Huaiqing's inner thoughts.

Whether it was someone leading the way in pleasure-seeking, or the fine military farmland originally reserved for the Hexi soldiers losing its proper value, and all such matters—

it seemed as though he was speaking to Zhang Xiaobao, but in reality, it surely was not so.

Could it be?

Did this Vice Defender of the Western Capital, Pei Yuan, want him to play the role of a messenger?

Perhaps Pei Yuan's absence from the banquet that day, and the old man of the Yin family demanding he compose poetry, had all been deliberately arranged by Pei Yuan.

At that moment, Pei Yuan asked Zhang Xiaobao again, "I hear your elder brother is now a Chief Commander of the personal army guarding the forbidden palace, and the Wang family's Wang Jiulang has also entered the Hanlin Academy as a scholar?"

Zhang Xiaobao understood. His guess had been correct.

Although Pei Yuan held great power over a region and had joined Zhang Zhao's camp fairly early on,

in reality, throughout Zhang Zhao's development over these years, Pei Yuan had always been dispatched to guard distant territories, and had instead grown somewhat distant from Zhang Zhao.

Yet his elder brother Zhang Cheng and his hometown friend Wang Jiulang and others were constantly at the Emperor's side.

Though their official ranks were not high, their power was great and they could see the Sage at any time — an advantage Pei Yuan did not possess.

Moreover, Zhang Xiaobao reflected, everything Pei Yuan had said were problems Liangzhou now faced.

Still, after turning the matter over in his mind, he cupped his hands toward Pei Yuan and said,

"What Lord Pei has said, this young one will relay in full to my elder brother and Brother Wang the Ninth. As for whether they will tell the Sage or what considerations they may have, that is beyond this young one's control."

Pei Yuan laughed heartily at this. "Erlang is indeed of military stock — direct and forthright in speech. Then I shall not beat about the bush either.

The Duke of Huaiqing is a man of great wisdom. In former years he was raised by Emperor Yingzu Huai, and their bond was exceptionally close.

And after Emperor Huai's family met with calamity, the Duke of Huaiqing was not implicated. When the Great King Linggong took control of the situation, the Duke of Huaiqing advanced yet further and became the most powerful of the Zhang family. That is not something an ordinary man could achieve.

However, precisely because of this, the Duke of Huaiqing is unavoidably too fine-minded, thinks too much, and is overly slick.

Liangzhou bears upon Anxi and Beiting, upon the Riverlands and Persia. If things go on like this — sinking into extravagance and seeking only comfort — it will surely harm Your Majesty's future grand designs.

What a pity that I am only the Deputy Defender of the Western Capital. If I were to submit a memorial, I fear those with ulterior motives would suspect me, Pei Yuan, of coveting power, or even of harboring disloyalty.

But in truth, the situation in Liangzhou, as Erlang has seen with his own eyes, has reached a point where not a moment can be lost.

Asking Erlang to help pass on a message was truly a matter of having no other choice."

Zhang Xiaobao nodded silently. Liangzhou was his homeland. Although he was no longer accustomed to it, he was still willing to help do something.

There was little else he could do, but simply recounting these things he had seen, one by one and in full detail, was no problem.

As for what choice His Majesty the elder brother and Wang Jiulang would make — that was their affair.

After sighing quietly to himself, he knew that his journey home was already nearing its end.

Once his family had all left this place, Liangzhou would no longer be the homeland that haunted his dreams.

Zhang Zhao, far away in Kaifeng Prefecture in the Eastern Capital, had not yet realized that the situation in Liangzhou was already quite serious, but he did understand that the decline of Guanzhong and even the Liangzhou region was unavoidable.

Because the year-and-a-half-long dredging and assessment of the Guanzhong canals had finally produced results.

A huge problem now lay before Zhang Zhao: the water volume of the Wei River had dropped by at least a third compared to the High Tang period.

This had led to a serious consequence — the canal connecting the Wei River to the Yellow River could no longer accommodate large vessels of several dozen tons or more.

This meant that grain from the Central Plains, and grain passing through the Central Plains, was finding it harder and harder to reach Guanzhong by canal.

At the same time, ever since the Han River had changed course in ancient times, grain from Shu could no longer be easily transported to Guanzhong either.

The same was true of Hexi grain. In the High Tang, Hexi grain was transported down the Yellow River to Lingzhou and even to the Hetao region.

To get it to Guanzhong, both land and water routes were extremely troublesome. Of ten shi that set out, at most one or two shi would remain by the time they reached Guanzhong.

One could say that the change in water transport conditions had thoroughly strangled Guanzhong's last chance of ever becoming an imperial capital again.

Although Zhang Zhao had already decided before this to place the capital in Luoyang, which was accessible in all directions,

the decline of Guanzhong would severely weaken the court's control over Hexi.

After all, from Luoyang to Chengtian Prefecture in Liangzhou was a distance of several thousand li.

Whether he went on an imperial tour himself or sent someone to garrison it, there were a great many drawbacks.

This was Heaven's will! The northwest was shifting from a semi-humid region into a semi-arid one, and its decline was unavoidable.

The rise of Jiangnan, the Two Lakes, and the Maritime Silk Road had become inevitable.

Nevertheless, the dredging of the Wei River and the canals still had to continue.

Decline was a slow process. Since he was determined to keep campaigning in the Riverlands, Persia, and elsewhere, he must delay the decline of Guanzhong and Hexi as much as possible.

Having finished arranging the canal matters, Zhang Zhao summoned Zhang Liecheng into the palace. The matter from last time concerning Li Xiaofeng's uncle, Li Dalang, the Chengxin Lang of Zhangwu Garrison, had more or less reached a conclusion.

This time Zhang Liecheng had brought Li Dalang to pay a secret visit to Zhang Zhao.

In Zhang Zhao's impression, a man who could leap from a mere auxiliary soldier to Chengxin Lang in one bound was likely to be someone along the lines of Dunzhu or Manxiong.

But when he saw this Li Dalang, he could not help showing a trace of surprise.

Because the Chengxin Lang before him, though he gave off an air of one weathered by hardship, was actually rather handsome and refined in appearance.

Nor was he particularly brawny — only long of arm and long of leg, clearly a nimble type skilled at running and archery.

And before the meeting, Zhang Liecheng had also explained some of Li Dalang's circumstances to Zhang Zhao.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard's investigation had found that although Li Dalang harbored some resentment toward his mother, mixed in with that resentment was actually a small measure of inferiority.

Because his mother was a lady of a distinguished family, while his father was merely a farmer in the fields.

Li Dalang very likely felt that his mother had left without saying goodbye because this marriage to his father had made his mother, a descendant of a great house, feel somewhat ashamed.

So on the one hand, Li Dalang desperately longed to find his mother, to taste the maternal love he had been missing for nearly thirty years.

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On the other hand, he was deeply ashamed of his own origins — especially after he learned that his half-brother, who shared the same mother but a different father, was actually a descendant of Li Shen, the Chief Minister of the Great Tang's Wuzong reign. This feeling grew even stronger.

In response to this situation, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's recommendation was for Zhang Zhao to posthumously honor Li Dalang's father, to make up for the deficiency in his heart.

Zhang Zhao adopted this suggestion — in fact, he had been thinking the same thing, and his thinking was even more comprehensive.

Entering the imperial palace for the first time, Li Dalang appeared extremely uneasy. He seemed to want to prostrate himself before almost every person he saw.

By the time he was brought to the Wende Hall and saw Zhang Zhao, Li Dalang dropped to his knees with a thud and never dared raise his head again.

Faintly, there came a soft sobbing sound, impossible to tell whether it was from gratitude or fear.

At this moment, the side of Zhang Zhao that came from the streets showed itself well. Without the slightest airs, he walked over and patted Li Dalang on the shoulder.

"I hear that in battle you fought more than a dozen men of the Southern Tang single-handedly, and even personally slew Cheng Silang, the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Tang's Dragon Martial Army.

You did not even fear life and death — what are you trembling for now? Get up, quickly!"

Li Dalang shuddered again at Zhang Zhao's pat, but still managed to stand and said to Zhang Zhao,

"Your servant is not afraid, but overjoyed. I never thought that after ten years, I would see the Sage again."

"Huh?" Zhang Zhao studied this Li Dalang carefully for a few moments, but truly could not recall ever having met him before.

But Li Dalang had already gone on speaking on his own. "Ten years ago, the Sage led the Hexi heavenly troops into the Guanzhong plain, and at Wugong County rescued several hundred farmers who were about to be put to the sword by rebel soldiers..."

At this point, Zhang Zhao's face suddenly lit up with dawning recognition. He pointed at Li Dalang, his tone carrying a note of pleasant surprise and the unexpected. "You're that... that..."

In truth, Zhang Zhao had not remembered a thing, but Li Dalang believed the Emperor had remembered him, and he trembled, tears streaming down his face.

"Your servant is that commoner the Sage was the first to pull out of the death pit of the Jingnan Army.

Your servant was then without a stitch of clothing, and the Sage immediately took off the fur coat he was wearing and put it on your servant. Later he also gave me clothes and food, and when I went home he rewarded me with three dou of rice, telling me to return home and farm well."

With that, Zhang Zhao really did recall it. That year, after breaking the rebels entrenched in Wugong County, he had indeed rescued over a thousand commoners whom the rebels had been preparing to bury alive.

And he vaguely remembered that he had indeed given the fur coat off his own back to a commoner who was completely naked and shivering uncontrollably.

By then Li Dalang had already broken into sobs. "Without the Sage, your servant would long ago have been buried in the death pit at Wucheng County. How could I have returned home to see my wife and children again, or enjoyed these ten more years of grain?

Your servant's life was given by the Sage. The Sage is the parent who gave your servant a second life!"

Watching Li Dalang weep with gratitude, Zhang Zhao himself was deeply moved.

He had thought of many ways to secure the loyalty of this key figure for the push into Shu.

But he had not expected that those actions back then, on his first entry into Guanzhong to put down the rebellion — actions that had seemed rather soft-hearted and womanly — had long ago planted the good fruit of today.

"Enough! Enough! Stop crying. Since you are an old acquaintance, and it is nearly noon, stay and share a simple meal with Us. Cheng'er, go instruct the Palace Food Service to prepare a few more Guanzhong dishes. You stay too and have a couple of cups."

Zhang Liecheng, long accustomed to such things, immediately accepted the order and withdrew. Li Dalang, overwhelmed with gratitude, moved to kneel again, but Zhang Zhao caught hold of him.

I, Sage Zhang, have always understood that sharing a meal is the surest way to draw Chinese people closer together.

And once Li Dalang had calmed down somewhat, Zhang Zhao asked about his family's circumstances and the living conditions of the villagers, helping Li Dalang recall how life for the people of Guanzhong had changed since the arrival of him, Sage Zhang.

Li Dalang was of course extremely grateful, and repeatedly declared that all the villagers believed their lives had been saved by Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao nodded with satisfaction, while thinking that the common people's gratitude was really quite easy to earn.

What he did not know, however, was that without him, Zhang Zhao, Guanzhong would soon indeed have been a land where no cock crowed for a thousand li and white bones lay exposed in the fields.

Because historically, in the very next year, Guanzhong would erupt into a massive warlord melee led by Li Shouzhen, with Wang Jingchong, Zhao Siwan, and the Meng state of Shu all taking part.

By the time Guo Wei put down the rebellion, the city of Chang'an alone yielded two hundred fifty thousand corpses.

The whole of Guanzhong, by conservative estimate, lost more than half its population — over seven hundred thousand people — and this was the final straw that broke the back of the camel that was Guanzhong.

Soon the wine and dishes were served, and Li Dalang, in a state of extreme flattered astonishment, sat at the lower right of the Emperor, enjoying the exquisite imperial fare.

In truth, there was nothing particularly fine: a bowl of mutton soup-cakes for each, two white-flour steamed buns, a plate of eggs scrambled with yellow chives, a roasted leg of lamb, a plate of lamb ribs with cheese, and a jar of wine.

Zhang Liecheng, on Zhang Zhao's behalf, repeatedly toasted Li Dalang, and only after everyone had eaten and drunk their fill did Zhang Zhao open his mouth to ask: "What does the Gentleman of Chengxin observe of the lives of the common people in the Southern Tang's Huainan?"

Li Dalang shook his head. "The Southern Tang court levies extortionate taxes. The officials and local strongmen prey on the people from top to bottom. A farming household with ten-odd mu of land can barely eat its fill. Though better than Guanzhong in the old Jin days, it is far worse than Guanzhong today."

"Alas!" Sage Zhang's acting had reached the pinnacle of the art. He gazed into the air at a forty-five-degree angle, the corners of his eyes seeming to glisten with tears, and lightly tapped the table with the leg of lamb in his hand.

"In former years, my father lost his kingdom, and We were banished far away by the Cao family. My father died and my mother could not be seen. So I wandered from place to place, and with my own eyes saw how hard the people's livelihood was throughout the realm. Therefore I have pursued the aspirations of my ancestors: to pacify the realm, so that the myriad people may never again suffer the pain of hunger.

I never thought that at thirty-four years of age this year, I still cannot save the common people of the Southern Tang, the Meng Shu, Hedong, and Youyun. Why will Heaven not take pity on the ordinary people?"

These words made Li Dalang weep like rain, because Li Dalang was himself a man whose father had died and whose mother he could not see!

In that instant, Li Dalang found the common ground between himself and the Sage, and felt it keenly as his own experience.

Moreover, his own father had been seized as a conscript by the Later Liang court and had vanished without a trace. Li Dalang had felt the rage and terror of harsh and tyrannical rule all the more directly.

And Zhang Zhao, for his part, had genuinely done good deeds for the common people — this Li Dalang had seen with his own eyes.

"The Sage bears the realm in his heart, and sooner or later will surely fulfill his long-cherished wish. Though your servant is dull-witted, I am willing to follow the Sage's arrangements and go to the state of Shu, to offer my meager strength for the unification of the realm."

Zhang Zhao slowly shook his head. "Your loyalty, We understand. But this matter carries the gravest risk. We cannot send a warrior who has fought a hundred battles for the state into the tiger's mouth."

Li Dalang suddenly knocked his head hard against the floor and said firmly: "Your servant's resolve is set. To repay Your Majesty's grace and righteousness, I would die ten thousand deaths without refusal!"

Zhang Zhao now dropped the pretense. He set down the leg of lamb, wiped his hands clean, and helped Li Dalang to his feet.

"What We want is not your death, but for you to help Us save the people of Shu and accomplish the unification of the realm. Do you understand the hardship and suffering this entails?"

Li Dalang nodded heavily. "Your servant understands, and is willing to go to Shu."