Chapter 599: Is the Five Horses Eating at the Trough About to Begin?

Once the deliberations were done, the next day Zhang Zhao had the Chancellery draft an edict, promoting Zhao Ying to Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs and Feng Dao to Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, and ordering them to inspect several dozen prefectures and counties in Henan.

The officials below, seeing how much importance the Emperor attached to this matter, began offering their advice and proposals one after another, and overnight Zhang Zhao received more than a hundred of them.

Only then did he understand how chaotic and rotten the administration of officials had been through the Later Liang, Later Tang, and Later Jin dynasties.

In those three dynasties, when the Emperor and the central government made policy, they mostly decided on a whim, did no verification whatsoever, and cared only about squeezing out money.

So much so that Zhang Zhao's normal, cautious, evidence-seeking attitude made officials across the realm somewhat overjoyed.

Because they had finally seen a normal emperor of the kind that had previously existed only in the classics and the histories.

And Zhao Ying and Feng Dao, upon receiving their appointments from Zhang Zhao, disregarded their aged bodies of over fifty years and set out the very next day through wind and snow, each heading to his assigned inspection region.

Such high efficiency and such evident desire to accomplish something sent an unmistakable message to the whole realm.

That the Great Zhou dynasty was a dynasty that truly possessed a sage ruler and worthy ministers, one that intended to achieve great things — and that worthy men in the countryside could now come out and serve.

The enthusiasm of Feng Dao and Zhao Ying also stirred Zhang Zhao. He had originally not planned to send the Brocade Guard along, but after thinking it over, he decided to send them after all.

And not just one group, but two — one in the open and one covert. Zhang Zhao summoned Zhang Liecheng and Zhang Lieming before him and personally ordered them to select capable personnel.

The open group was to reveal its identity directly and stay by the side of Feng Dao and Zhao Ying, while the covert group had to arrive at the destination within three days after Feng and Zhao departed, and keep detailed records and conduct investigations.

He also required that the open and covert groups of the Brocade Guard not know of each other's existence.

Zhang Liecheng hurried off to make preparations. Feng Dao and Zhao Ying had already set out, so he had to select two sets of personnel as quickly as possible.

Zhang Lieming stayed behind, because the reason he had entered the palace was not the matter of Feng and Zhao, but the matter of the Shu envoy Li Xiaofeng.

Facing Zhang Zhao, Zhang Lieming — who was normally carefree and bold enough to impersonate a nephew of Zhang Xichong and act on his own authority in the provinces — did not even dare to breathe loudly.

He presented a stack of documents to Zhang Zhao and immediately began explaining.

"This Shu Supervising Secretary is a complete greenhorn, but recently he seems to have sensed my identity, so the last few times he went out to amuse himself, he was clearly somewhat constrained."

Zhang Zhao paid no attention to Zhang Lieming's words, and pretended not to notice the trace of nervousness on his face.

What "sensed his identity"? More likely Zhang Lieming had let something slip somewhere.

Even if Li Xiaofeng was a greenhorn, he was only greenhorn to a limited degree. A man who could serve as a Supervising Secretary, entering the forbidden palace and staying by the Emperor's side, would not lack that much alertness.

"It's not impossible for Meng Chang to get those ten thousand-odd Shu troops back. The canal maintenance is nearly finished anyway, and if we keep feeding them, we'll start losing money.

Gao Yanchou may have limited ability, but he is a loyal minister. Keeping him in the Eastern Capital does no good, and we certainly can't let him die there. We might as well release them all, to lull Meng Chang and all of Shu."

That day, after two of the three Shu armies had been destroyed, Cao Yuanzhong, Yin Yaozi, Liu Zaisheng, and others captured more than thirteen thousand Shu defeated soldiers and civilian laborers.

Among them, the six thousand men of the Shu imperial guard Zhaowu Army who had been forced to surrender at Niushou Mountain, along with more than a hundred officers from the Zhaowu Army's cavalry-infantry Commander Gao Yanchou on down, were the elite core.

Zhang Zhao had originally seen that Gao Yanchou's defense against Feng Hui's attacks at Niushou Mountain was quite methodical, and had put in effort trying to win him over.

But Gao Yanchou steadfastly refused to surrender, and when pressed hard, would attempt suicide. He was now spoken of by the people of Guanzhong as a loyal minister.

The words "loyal minister" struck exactly at Zhang Zhao's weak spot, so he dared not try to persuade him to surrender again, lest he truly drive Gao Yanchou to his death.

Because for a Gao Yanchou — whose command ability was on par with Zhang Xibao and Wu Guo'er, but whose martial prowess was a notch lower — to damage his reputation would be a loss not worth the gain.

Therefore this Gao Yanchou was completely useless to Zhang Zhao, and it would be better to send him back to Shu as soon as possible.

"The secret agents planted among the Shu troops — have they all been arranged?" Since he was prepared to release these ten thousand-odd Shu prisoners, it was impossible that he would truly do nothing.

Gao Yanchou refused to surrender, but these ten thousand-odd Shu troops could not all be hard-boned. If they really were all hard-boned, how could they have been defeated so easily?

Zhang Lieming nodded. "According to the Sage's requirements, from the civilian laborers to the soldiers to the junior officers, and up to the mid- and high-ranking officers, we have turned quite a number of them. I guarantee that as soon as they return, every part of Shu will be full of our eyes and ears."

"Have the pledges of allegiance all been written?" Zhang Zhao asked.

"Written. Everyone has written one. They also know that if anyone dares to feign compliance while secretly resisting, the Brocade Guard can immediately leak these pledges." Zhang Lieming answered quickly.

"Have the key candidates also been selected?" Zhang Zhao flipped through the roster in his hands and continued questioning closely.

"Selected. One is Gao Yanchou's younger cousin. This man fears hard labor and is greedy for comfort, so he was brought under our control early on.

Another is Zhang Qianzhao's Secretary. He has read a few books and still understands where law and orthodoxy lie. He is willing to serve the Great Zhou and bring unity to the realm.

There is also a Chief Supervisor of the Shu Wuding Army. This man is Sun Hanshao's cousin's son. He was captured while covering the retreat of Zhang Qianzhao's defeated troops. He is also willing to be our inside agent, but he demands that after the great army pacifies Shu, he be allowed to serve as Prefect of Xingyuan Prefecture."

Zhang Zhao smiled faintly. Xingyuan Prefecture was Hanzhong. "This man knows how to grasp the proper measure. He did not ask to be Military Governor of Shannan West Circuit, presumably thinking that I would certainly not give it.

But a mere Prefect of Xingyuan Prefecture is not so critical. If he is obedient, we might as well let him hold it for a few years."

Zhang Lieming also quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Winning over this nephew of Zhang Qianzhao had not been easy. If Zhang Zhao had not agreed to the Xingyuan Prefecture post, then he would have had to coax and deceive him, and in that case it would have been very hard to keep things seamless.

Zhang Zhao thought for a while, then said: "Make arrangements to sacrifice Gao Yanchou's younger cousin. When they are about to reach Shu, have someone expose him. Best to expose several more people along with him, then stir up fear and suspicion, and muddy the waters."

Zhang Lieming was briefly stunned, and only then understood what "sacrifice" meant. He could not help admiring this sage uncle's gift for coining words even more.

"Sacrifice" — it really was quite apt.

And immediately after, he felt that Zhang Zhao's method was very brilliant. If even someone as high-ranking as Gao Yanchou's younger cousin was exposed, it would go a long way toward dispelling the suspicions of everyone in Shu, high and low.

And it would indeed muddy the waters, making the true collaborators even harder to expose.

Of course, Zhang Lieming had not yet thought it through completely, because there was an even greater benefit to doing this.

That was that it would make Meng Chang no longer trust these people in his heart, while on the surface he would have to appear very pleased, and would even have to grit his teeth and reward them.

And these people had done a year of hard labor in Guanzhong, toiling half to death before finally being released, and then upon returning home were rewarded.

Just as they were looking forward to the future, their status would suddenly decline day by day, and they would no longer be given important posts. One can imagine how much resentment they would erupt with.

When the Zhou army attacked Shu again, these people, now familiar with the discipline of the Zhou army, would probably come forward on their own in great numbers to act as guides.

Of course, this move was not entirely without a counter. If Meng Chang could, with great wisdom and great magnanimity, pacify these people, and then transfer in seasoned professionals to slowly screen them, Zhang Zhao's move would have no place to be used.

But Zhang Zhao believed that Meng Chang did not have that kind of magnanimity. As for wisdom, he might well have some, but for the sake of face and convenience, he would probably end up choosing the cruder one-size-fits-all approach, and stop employing them as a whole.

Having sorted out how to deal with Shu, Zhang Zhao prepared to summon Li Xiaofeng. If he delayed the summons any longer, never mind Li Xiaofeng himself — Shu would begin to grow suspicious.

Moreover, to insert Zhang Xiaobao into Li Xiaofeng's relatives, and to have Li Xiaofeng cover for Zhang Xiaobao's activities in Shu, he had to receive him cordially and promise enough benefits. Only then would Li Xiaofeng, and Li Hao of the Shu Secretariat behind him, be willing to cooperate.

Seeing that the sky was growing dark and it was no longer suitable to summon Li Xiaofeng, Zhang Zhao, who had tasted the sweetness and was somewhat stirred, prepared to go rest at Fu Ying'er's place.

Unfortunately, just as he stepped out of the palace hall, an urgent dispatch from the Brocade Guard arrived at top speed.

The moment Zhang Zhao saw that this Brocade Guard express courier was a Centurion personally serving in the role, and that he had not even dismounted inside the palace, he immediately realized that something major had happened.

Zhang Zhao quickly sent an attendant to notify Wang Tongxin, Left Chief Supervisor of the Hanshan Capital Guard on duty, to send men to lead the attendants in summoning Zhang Xichong, He Ning, Fan Zhi, Gao Xingzhou, Fu Yanqing, Bai Congxin, Murong Xinzhang, and others to the palace.

But once the express rider had presented the urgent report in his hands, Zhang Zhao discovered it was not, as he had assumed, a problem in Hebei.

And on reflection, that made sense: this winter was unusually bitter, with snow three or four chi deep even in the Eastern Capital. If Liu Zhiyuan truly wanted to make a move, the troops below him would certainly be unwilling to go out and die for it.

So the Jinyi express rider had not come south from Hebei, but had returned from Hunan.

The letter was written in pinyin, so only Zhang Zhao could read it himself. After reading it through, an excited look appeared on Sage Zhang's face, and he looked at the assembled ministers waiting for the outcome and said:

"Li Xiaojie has sent an urgent report from Tanzhou. Since the King of Chu, Ma Xifan, fell gravely ill a month ago, his old ailments have flared up, and for more than ten days he has been unable to leave his bed. His high fever will not break, and at times he speaks wild, mad words. Medicine and treatment are useless, and I fear his life will not last much longer."

Tanzhou was the Changsha of later ages, and Ma Xifan was the current ruler of Ma Chu, already fifteen years on the throne. His death would deal a tremendous shock to Ma Chu.

For Ma Chu was like the Southern Tang: when Li Bian of the Southern Tang was alive, he had agreed with his sons that the succession would pass from elder brother to younger brother, to preserve stability.

Ma Yin had done the same. Before he died, he had arranged it all: the succession order of Ma Chu was likewise elder brother to younger brother.

But after Ma Xifan had held power for fifteen years, the situation within Ma Chu had changed.

First, Ma Xifan did not want a powerful younger brother as heir-apparent at his side threatening his position, so he had worked constantly to suppress his brothers Ma Xigao and Ma Xi'e, who were not much younger than himself.

In the end he succeeded in poisoning the quite prestigious Ma Xigao. Only Ma Xi'e, that fellow, was vicious, insolent, and utterly without scruple; in all of Chu there were hardly any who liked him.

So Ma Xifan felt safe banishing Ma Xi'e to remote Chenzhou (Huaihua in Hunan), and let the matter rest.

By contrast, the next heir in line after Ma Xi'e, Ma Xiguang, was generous, gentle, and weak, courteous to all — at a glance, a mild, benevolent, and virtuous ruler.

Therefore, whether civil officials or military officers of Ma Chu, all favored him as the next King of Chu.

Because that sort of leader was the easiest to fool, and more convenient for them to continue living lives of wealth and ease.

Moreover, Ma Xiguang was the full brother of the current King of Chu, Ma Xifan, born of the same mother, and of good character, and he was well liked by Ma Xifan, who had many times let slip his intention of letting Ma Xiguang succeed after his own passing.

So when Guo Tiance heard Zhang Zhao say this, he jumped out at once in excitement.

"Sage, this is a heaven-sent opportunity! Ma Xiguang is right now in the Eastern Capital. If we keep him here for a time, then when the King of Chu passes away, Chu will be left without an heir and will surely fall into chaos."

Fu Yanqing, too, could not contain his delight as he said to Zhang Zhao, "King Wumu of Chu (Ma Yin) had thirty-seven sons, of whom twenty-five still survive, all grown to adulthood.

Now the Deputy Military Governor of Wu'an Army, Ma Xiguang, is in the Eastern Capital, and there is no one to succeed. The moment Ma Xifan dies, I fear the War of the Eight Princes of the Western Jin's Sima clan will be reenacted at once.

We may well observe for a time. If someone else prevails, the Sage can enfeoff Ma Xiguang as Military Governor of Wu'an Army and send troops to escort him south to take the throne.

If no victor emerges, that is even better: we directly pacify the chaos on Ma Xiguang's behalf, then plant our own officers and troops, and bring the twenty-nine prefectures and one hundred eight counties of Wu'an Army under the court."

Zhang Xichong stroked his beard and smiled faintly. "Sage, I have heard that the King of Nanping, Gao Conghui, is also in far worse health than before. Otherwise he would not have been in such haste to send his eldest son to court to apologize and request enfeoffment.

If Ma Chu falls into civil strife and the court's great army escorts Ma Xiguang south, it must pass through Jiangling. Would that not also let us borrow the road to destroy Guo?

Gao Conghui is a valiant and martial ruler, but the Deputy Military Governor Gao Baorong is not. When the time comes, we can send Gao Conghui to the Eastern Capital to recuperate, then appoint Gao Baorong as Military Governor. Within a few years, Nanping will belong to the state."

Exactly! Zhang Zhao clenched his fist in excitement.

Now was the perfect moment. The King of Nanping, Gao Conghui, and the King of Chu, Ma Xifan, were both great kings who had held power for over a decade, but their successors would not have such prestige. This was the chance to take Nanping and Ma Chu.

This would both cut off the mutual dealings of Meng Shu and the Southern Tang, the greatest threats among the states, and allow us to build warships at Nanping's Jiangling and Ma Chu's Yuezhou, for use in destroying the Southern Tang.

"If that is so, your son requests that you, Father, give the order to seal off at once any news from Jiangling concerning Ma Chu. We must delay as long as possible Ma Xiguang's learning of Ma Xifan's death. If Ma Xiguang returns to Chu, we will no longer be able to make use of him."

"Right!" Zhang Zhao nodded sharply. He suddenly remembered that Cao Yanming had come over precisely because the Jinshan Palace, built on Jinshan (Mount Beimang) in Luoyang, was essentially complete.

"We shall issue an edict at once. With Jinshan Palace newly completed, the court will move this year's New Year's Day celebrations to Jinshan Palace north of the Divine Capital, and order the envoys of all the states to accompany us there.

Then the Left Yulin Guard will be responsible for securing the perimeter, and the Jinyi personal guards will be responsible for screening, so that Ma Xiguang receives no news from Ma Chu."

This was the best method, because the various states had sent people to pay court, and they would certainly need to communicate at any time. Zhang Zhao could not deliberately block news from Ma Chu, for that would surely arouse suspicion.

But by moving all the envoys to Jinshan Palace on Jinshan, and then sealing off Jinshan Palace by both overt and covert means in the name of security, it became entirely legitimate.

"Guo Tiance, have the Bureau of Military Affairs issue an order to recall Luo Shande urgently from Chenzhou. Have him make contact with Gao Baorong at once and urge Gao Baorong to summon his younger brother Gao Baoying to the Eastern Capital.

With one more son here, Gao Conghui will have one more thing to worry about. The sooner the marriage alliance between our two houses is concluded, the sooner Gao Baorong will lose the will to resist.

The Left Vice Director should also prepare to adjust the garrison appointments in Guanzhong. If there is any change in Ma Chu, We will need the Grand Commissioner of the Guanzhong Circuit, Yin Zhengqi, to go to Tanzhou to take up garrison command."

While Zhang Zhao was making intense preparations to move the envoys of the various states to Jinshan Palace and pen them in, Zhang Xiaobao, dragging his lame leg, returned to the Eastern Capital.

Of the officers and soldiers who had gone back with him, a great many also returned to the Eastern Capital very quickly.

Because in Liangzhou, they were just ordinary soldiers among the ranks. Only when they reached the Central Plains could they fully feel the glittering halo of being personal army and imperial guard.

Of course, this sense of loss was felt most keenly by the soldiers of the four prefectures of Liang, Lan, Gua, and Sha.

The soldiers of the other Hexi and Longyou prefectures did not feel much of this. On the contrary, when they returned to their hometowns, they were often treated like heroes. As long as they were home, good men from all the mountains and peaks would come to pay their respects.

The reason for this was, of course, that since Zhang Zhao first rose up, the four prefectures of Liang, Lan, Gua, and Sha had been the group that benefited most within Zhang Zhao's small circle.

They were now accustomed to it — accustomed to staying at Zhang Zhao's side and enjoying glory and wealth.

It was just that Zhang Xiaobao returned to the Eastern Capital, to Kaifeng Prefecture, earlier than everyone else, because the others had to bring their families to Kaifeng Prefecture. Zhang Xiaobao did not need to; his whole family was in the Eastern Capital.

Wandering left and right, Zhang Xiaobao suddenly felt he was a bit superfluous.

His father was in the imperial guard on external duty, currently stationed in Xuzhou. It was said that after absorbing the elite of Xuzhou's Zhongwu Army, they would move south to Caizhou or Yingzhou.

From then on, Wuwei Garrison would become the main force against the Southern Tang, so neither of his parents would be returning to the Eastern Capital.

As for his elder brother's side, although a room was still kept for him, and his sister-in-law, Lady Wang, treated him no differently from a real younger brother, watching his brother's family living in harmony and happiness always gave Zhang Xiaobao the feeling of being an outsider.

He hesitated several times, but in the end, with no friends and nowhere to go, Zhang Xiaobao could only walk into his elder brother's home.

The moment he entered, he saw his nieces and nephews eating steamed cakes. The four utterly adorable little tykes, seeing their second uncle arrive, at once cheered and pounced on him, hanging all over him.

This finally let Zhang Xiaobao recover the feeling of being missed by family, and the smile returned to his face.

Zhang Cheng was not on duty today, because recently the Sage had begun letting the Left and Right Shenwei Armies, formed from the former Later Jin imperial guard, take turns providing palace guard duty.

The position of the Left and Right Shenwei Armies had originally been rather awkward, because they had been imperial guards, but Zhang Zhao had his own imperial guard and had no use for them at all.

So they had been given the title of Capital Garrison Army, which was somewhat neither fish nor fowl.

However, after the campaign against the Southern Tang, especially the valiant battle at Mengzhu Marsh where they shattered the Southern Tang army, Zhang Zhao intended to absorb the elite of the Left and Right Shenwei Armies into his personal army, and to incorporate the rest into the imperial guard. They were currently in an evaluation period, so Zhang Cheng and the others of the Hanshan Unit had it much easier.

But after hearing his younger brother's account of the situation in Liangzhou, Zhang Cheng simply set down his chopsticks and prepared to take his children out to the street to watch a play.

Zhang Xiaobao thought his elder brother had agreed to pass the message along, but then he heard Zhang Cheng sigh.

"Are you really stupid or just pretending? What am I? I am the Right Commander of the Hanshan Unit, and I also have the duty of guarding the Xuanwu Gate. How can I casually meddle in local political affairs?

If you had not met the Duke of Hedong, I could have said a few words before the Sage. But since you have met the Duke of Hedong, I can no longer go and speak to His Majesty."

Zhang Xiaobao froze on the spot. He hesitated for a few breaths, then looked at his elder brother and asked, "Then should I go find the Ninth Brother of the Wang family?"

Zhang Chengyao shook his head. "You should submit the memorial yourself."

Zhang Xiaobao was even more bewildered. "Didn't Duke Pei say those things to me precisely because of the connection between you and Ninth Brother? If I now submit a memorial to the Sage myself, then none of that gets used — so why would Duke Pei have bothered seeking me out?"

Zhang Cheng sighed. "The Sage rose from humble origins. He is a wise sovereign who sees through the ways of the world — not one of those rulers raised deep within the palace, ignorant of what year it is beyond the walls.

That is why he has several times issued commands allowing all the people under heaven to submit memorials and freely voice their views. But the spirit of the age, shaped by the decline of the Great Dynasty, means no one takes this seriously, and few outside the court officials dare to submit memorials on affairs of state.

His Majesty is now preparing, if still no one submits memorials, to have the Brocade Guard 'drum up' a few."

As he spoke, Zhang Cheng raised his head and sighed several more times. "Duke Pei is truly a formidable man — bold, meticulous, and ruthless. Could he really have calculated that I would advise you to submit the memorial yourself?

In this way, on one hand he opens a new precedent to relieve His Majesty's worries, on the other he does our family a favor, and he also hands you a fine future.

He has little footing in the central court. If our family receives such a great kindness from him, then in public and in private, we will have to repay him in some measure."

Zhang Xiaobao still did not quite understand. "According to what you say, Elder Brother, Duke Pei giving me a future makes sense — but where is the favor to you?"

Zhang Cheng snorted. "With your level of ability, you want to go to Shu and stir up a storm?

You are my own younger brother, and if I do not even pass word along for you, does that not make me look like a pure and solitary minister?

As the shield before the Sage, that identity of a solitary minister is exactly what is needed.

Eat quickly. Once you finish, I am throwing you out the door. After you submit your memorial, let Ninth Brother Wang give you some training — otherwise, going to Shu will just be sending you to your death."

Hurry up and eat. Once you're done, I'm throwing you out the door. After you've finished your memorial, I'll have Brother Wang Jiu give you some proper training — otherwise, going to Shu will just be walking to your death."

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