Chapter 623: Wind, Frost, Rain, and Snow at Taiyuan

Just as Yunzhou fell to Zhe Congyuan's assault, Liu Zhiyuan had also completed his preparations to break out.

The Hedong army could still scrape together about a thousand warhorses, and its officers gathered up roughly six hundred yabing guards and yabing officers who were deeply bound to them.

Food is the first necessity of the people; throughout history, the Chinese have been exceedingly particular and enthusiastic when it comes to the matter of eating.

Though the Hedong army had suffered such disastrous defeats, the moment large chunks of stewed pork and big skewers of roast mutton appeared, along with unlimited soup-cakes and a little cloudy wine, morale was lifted considerably.

In the early morning, at the end of the yin hour, after another bout of gorging and drinking, the Hedong army again sent out more than six thousand men, personally led by the fierce general Wang Yin, carrying large quantities of supplies in an attempt to charge toward the great stockade before Jize County.

But no sooner had they left the city gate than they were spotted by Zhou army sentries. Although Zhang Zhao had fewer than twenty thousand men and could not completely encircle Jize County, his surveillance of the town had never slackened for a moment.

The instant there was movement in the city, the Zhou army, following the battle plan made earlier, lit signal fires at points west and north of Jize County, illuminating the western and northern sides of the town until they were bright as day.

Liu Zhiyuan cursed his luck inwardly, but he could not refuse to move now. The Hedong army's six hundred-odd cavalry, nearly one man to two horses, charged out of the city in that brilliant firelight.

Zhang Zhao was startled awake from sleep. Just as he was about to give orders, Zhang Cheng's voice came from outside, saying that Bai Congxin and Li Cunhui had each taken a thousand riders in pursuit.

Zhang Zhao had of course guarded against Liu Zhiyuan breaking out of the city. Even a fool could figure that Liu Zhiyuan's best option now was to flee back to Hedong, so he would naturally intercept him on the road. Li Cunhui had barely returned to the main camp at all.

However, Li Cunhui was not made of iron either. After several days without proper rest, his mind was somewhat dazed, and Liu Zhiyuan immediately slipped through.

When Li Cunhui got word of this, he was furious. He personally led more than a thousand cavalry in a frantic pursuit. Among the yabing guards Liu Zhiyuan had newly recruited were natives of Xingzhou, so they were quite familiar with the roads.

But Li Cunhui and his men had the advantage of speed in their warhorses, and the two sides immediately began a running chase across the open country of Xingzhou.

Xingzhou, which in later ages would be the city of Xingtai, lies northwest of Jize County.

Liu Zhiyuan, however, did not need to flee to the prefectural seat of Xingzhou. He only needed to reach the Sha River, then follow it all the way to Junji Pass.

The several hundred Hedong troops in Xingzhou and the large quantities of supplies there could, of course, only be abandoned.

One side fled and the other pursued. At first Liu Zhiyuan, aided by guides familiar with the local terrain and the cover of darkness, managed to shake off Li Cunhui and Bai Congxin.

But as the sky gradually brightened, the superiority of the Zhou army's warhorses became apparent. Seeing the pursuers drawing closer and closer behind him, Liu Zhiyuan gestured to Bai Zairong.

Bai Zairong understood instantly. He immediately arranged for ten elite Hedong riders with several dozen warhorses to wait behind.

In the distance, the Zhou army's fierce riders came thundering forward, but these ten elite Hedong riders showed not the slightest fear.

Closer and closer they came. Just as Yang Guizhong's heart was pounding and he thought these Hedong men were all mounted champions worth a hundred each, the Hedong cavalry made their move.

As one, they loosed the ropes binding the loads on their horses' backs. In an instant, bolt after bolt of gleaming brocade, clinking white silver ingots, and costly premium nutmeg, bay leaves, and pepper were thrown onto the ground.

The faces of the Hedong cavalry turned pained and proud at once. A casual handful of this was worth more than an ordinary man could earn in a year of labor, and now it was flung into the mud. They did not believe the Zhou army men opposite would be utterly unmoved.

Moved they were! Soon greedy light shot from the eyes of the Zhou army's fierce riders, but it was immediately replaced by something even more fervent.

By Zhou army custom, if they could capture Liu Zhiyuan, they would rise at least ten ranks in official grade, and might even touch the edge of a noble title.

The former was a ladder of advancement for a lifetime; the latter was an iron rice bowl for one's descendants. Compared with that, what did a few hundred strings of cash amount to?

Moreover, under wartime regulations, anyone who took that money could expect the whole unit to be beaten into zhuanglang troops.

Thus Yang Guizhong paused only for the briefest instant before he led his brothers howling forward, and the ten still somewhat smug elite Hedong riders were struck straight to the ground.

The gorgeous brocade and gleaming white silver ingots were trampled into the mud by the horses' hooves.

"Ungrateful wretches!" In the distance, Bai Zairong watched the twenty-odd riders pursuing and snorted coldly. "Bring a hundred riders — let's teach these shameless Hexi bandits a lesson!"

Uh...!

A quarter hour later, Bai Zairong was sprawled over his horse's back, a broken arrow shaft still stuck in his buttocks, with a dozen-odd yabing guards escorting him as he fled desperately toward Xingzhou. Bai Zairong was so terrified he did not even dare follow Liu Zhiyuan.

Just now, the moment he led his men forward, the enemy loosed a volley of crossbow bolts. They charged forty paces, and the enemy fired crossbows three times — twice with those strange crossbows with terrifyingly fast rates of fire.

The other time was with the xiao crossbow, a smaller concealed crossbow mounted on the side of the horse. In battle, the rider needed only a light kick and the xiao crossbow would fire, its purpose being to wound the enemy's horses.

This kind of crossbow was a type of hidden weapon, unsuited to large-scale pitched battles, but in small-scale skirmishes like this, nothing could be more fitting.

After three volleys, Bai Zairong's hundred riders had suffered heavy losses. Yang Guizhong seized the chance to unleash another blast of pear-blossom spear fire, and the already terrified Hedong cavalry simply collapsed.

Yang Guizhong fired two arrows, but Bai Zairong's luck was excellent, and he was only hit in the buttocks.

Yet Bai Zairong's wound was not entirely without effect. Liu Zhiyuan used the opportunity to quickly put some distance between himself and the Zhou cavalry.

More importantly, Yang Guizhong's twenty riders had also lost five, and he did not dare press the pursuit too hard. Liu Zhiyuan still had five hundred riders in hand; if he suddenly turned and struck back, Yang Guizhong could not withstand it.

So Yang Guizhong could only split his men into two waves, one in front and one behind, keeping Liu Zhiyuan on a leash. When the Hedong elite cavalry sent out a large force to intercept, they circled around; when a small squad came, they went up and scattered it.

Nanhe was an important town on the Sha River. Liu Zhiyuan had only to cross the Sha River here, then follow it upstream to pass through Junji Pass and return to Hedong.

Moreover, Liu Zhiyuan had stationed five hundred men in Nanhe County and stockpiled a certain amount of grain and fodder.

Seeing that the Zhou pursuers behind him still numbered only a dozen or so, Liu Zhiyuan felt greatly reassured.

Once he crossed the river, he could tear down the pontoon bridge over the Sha River outside Nanhe County, making it completely impossible for the Zhou pursuers to catch him.

But just as Liu Zhiyuan was indulging in this pleasant dream, the thunder of hooves rose from behind. Li Cunhui, bringing Wang Quanbin, Wen Chongle, Yue Saonu, and others, had caught up traveling light.

Liu Zhiyuan was scared out of his wits. Liu Yun, who was with him, still wanted to cut the pontoon bridge, but Li Cunhui had already flown up on horseback. His mount, the gray Yueying, leaped straight into the river and lunged toward the Hedong army.

Still on horseback, Li Cunhui fired three arrows in rapid succession. Liu Yun wore only leather armor and was instantly shot until blood streamed from him. Screaming, he abandoned the pontoon bridge and fled frantically toward Nanhe County, while the dozens of Hedong cavalry around him scattered in all directions.

Seeing Li Cunhui so fierce that even his warhorse could swim across the river, Liu Zhiyuan could only abandon the idea of destroying the bridge. Taking the three hundred-odd riders still with him, he hurried forward.

But before they had run many steps, a dozen-odd riders came back covered in wounds. It turned out that the hundred riders under Murong Yanchao, sent ahead to clear the way, had suddenly encountered several hundred Zhou cavalry and been scattered at once. Murong Yanchao had completely vanished.

With interception ahead and pursuit behind, Liu Zhiyuan could only turn his horse northeast and take temporary refuge in Nanhe County.

This was an important strongpoint of the Hedong army, with a few hundred soldiers still there, but it could only be said to be a little better than running around like a headless fly.

The moment Liu Zhiyuan entered Nanhe County, Li Cunhui and Bai Congxin arrived in pursuit. Two thousand riders came up in succession and sealed off the county town on all sides.

Li Cunhui, furious that Liu Zhiyuan had nearly escaped, ordered his soldiers that even if they could not sleep or rest, they must not let Liu Zhiyuan get away again.

Before long, the force that had intercepted Liu Zhiyuan ahead also arrived. It turned out to be Zhao Kuangyin, whom Zhang Zhao had sent out to pursue the Tuyuhun raiders.

The moment Zhao Kuangyin saw Li Cunhui was there, he hurried over, fawning, to report.

Li Cunhui of course knew this young fellow whom Murong Xinzhang had brought from Kaifeng in the Eastern Capital to Liangzhou, and knew even better that this young fellow dreamed of becoming the Emperor's adopted son.

For that reason, Zhao Kuangyin not only constantly came to curry favor with Li Cunhui, he even fawned on Li Congyi, whom Li Cunhui privately considered a complete waste.

"Duke! Your servant was ordered to pursue the Tuyuhun. I routed them at Ren County in Xingzhou. Two thousand riders of their Helian and Li clans are willing to surrender, while the chieftain Bai Zongyi fled for his life with several hundred riders.

Afterward, your servant sent a letter to Prefect Guo Zongfang of Xingzhou. Prefect Guo is a man of broad understanding and was willing to submit. He personally led the stout fellows of Xingzhou and, together with your servant, smashed a Hedong army unit."

As he spoke, Zhao Kuangyin presented a burly, powerful officer behind him to Li Cunhui, and even put in a good word for him.

"Liu Zhiyuan, fleeing back to Hedong, will certainly take Nanhe County. That was Prefect Guo's judgment, and I have been lying in ambush here with him for quite some time."

Guo Zongfang, beaming under Zhao Kuangyin's praise, also gave Li Cunhui a deep bow, then said with a chuckle.

"I failed to recognize a worthy lord and was deceived by Liu Zhiyuan. Now, enlightened by General Zhao, I have repented and am willing to lead the hundred thousand people of Xingzhou in surrendering to the Son of Heaven of the Great Zhou. I beg the Commandery Duke to put in a few good words on my behalf."

Hearing this, Li Cunhui looked seriously at Zhao Kuangyin. Only now did he truly feel that this young brother was by no means simple.

Every move in this whole chain of actions had been timed with perfect steadiness. The slightest misstep would have made it impossible to achieve such great merit.

Of course, having cut off Liu Zhiyuan, Li Cunhui was also delighted, so he said to Zhao Kuangyin and Guo Zongfang, "The Son of Heaven rewards and punishes with clarity. Prefect Guo has rendered great merit and will surely become a pillar of our Great Zhou."

Zhao Kuangyin had actually still understated it. His journey had been perilous in the extreme.

Zhang Zhao had given him only five hundred picked cavalry drawn from the Right Yulin Guard and the Right Jinwu Guard to pursue the Tuyuhun remnants. Zhao Kuangyin galloped hard for half a day and immediately caught up with those Tuyuhun.

The two sides fought a great battle outside Ren County. Zhao Kuangyin broke four thousand with five hundred, charged at the very front himself, and slew three Tuyuhun champions in the line of battle, forcing the Tuyuhun to surrender with a small force.

Then he dragged the just-subdued Tuyuhun straight to the walls of Xingzhou and rushed into the city before the gates could close.

Then, borrowing prestige and bluffing half the way, he coaxed and intimidated Guo Zongfang, the Xingzhou Prefect appointed by Liu Zhiyuan, into defecting. Guo Zongfang joined forces with him, and together they killed more than four hundred Hedong troops in Xingzhou.

Afterward, Zhao Kuangyin kept Guo Zongfang detained at his side and again forced him to leave the city and join him in ambushing Liu Zhiyuan.

He left Xue Guizhong with five hundred Tuyuhun cavalry and one hundred elite riders of the Left Jinwu Guard to hold Xingzhou.

In a mere three and a half days, he had directly taken down two major forces and blocked Liu Zhiyuan's line of retreat. The skill, will, and foresight he displayed were beyond what any ordinary man could match.

At least when Zhang Zhao received Li Cunhui's express dispatch, he could not help but heave a long sigh.

Setting aside that business of being draped in the yellow robe, Zhao the Elder—whether in the Later Zhou of history or in the present Zhang Zhou—was beyond reproach in both ability and emotional intelligence.

No one of the younger generation could compare with him. Not even the Anxi Army descendants Zhang Zhao had personally cultivated, such as Yang Guizhong and Xue Guizhong.

The men he had taken in—Zhao Yanjin, Zhao Kuangzan, Feng Jiye, and the rest—could only serve as Zhao Kuangyin's assistants.

Only Gao Huaide came close to Zhao Kuangyin in ability.

When the officers around him, such as Wang Yisi, heard the news, they came cheering all the more to congratulate Zhang Zhao, congratulating Zhang Zhou on producing another star general. They could hardly be blamed for thinking so; Zhao Kuangyin had done it beautifully.

In the county town of Nanhe, Liu Zhiyuan suddenly felt a fierce heat all over his body, yet deep in his bones there was a piercing cold. The wind-pathogenic illness that had left him for some time returned to his body at once.

Hearing the great clamor of voices outside, as if a familiar voice were calling his name, he could not help having someone support him up to the top of the wall to look.

Outside Nanhe, he saw a man in a black lan robe being escorted to the foot of the wall. Liu Zhiyuan looked carefully—it seemed to be an old servant from his inner household.

The old servant was kicked to the ground. When he saw Liu Zhiyuan, he burst into loud weeping.

Liu Zhiyuan was so unsettled by the weeping that his soul could not settle. Could something have gone wrong in Taiyuan? Had his family been seized by rebels?

"What has happened? Why are you here?" Liu Zhiyuan asked loudly, clinging to his last shred of hope.

The old servant knocked his head against the ground and wailed, "Great King, the eldest young lord passed away on the twenty-sixth of last month!"

Liu Zhiyuan's world spun. His eldest son Liu Chengxun had been the apple of his eye since childhood—his favorite son, without equal.

Liu Chengxun was the eldest son borne to him by Li Sanniang. He had witnessed Liu Zhiyuan's career take flight step by step and had been painstakingly groomed as his heir for twenty years. When Liu Zhiyuan had left, Liu Chengxun was already so gravely ill he could not rise from bed. He had never imagined they would truly be parted by heaven and earth.

Below the wall, seeing Liu Zhiyuan utterly distraught, Zhao Kuangyin immediately bent his bow to shoot, but Liu Zhiyuan stood as if stupefied, not moving at all.

He turned his head to look at the yabing guards beside him. These yabing guards had followed him this far and suffered blow after blow. The loyalty and admiration of former days were long gone from their eyes, leaving only confusion, fear, and even ill intent—because he, Liu Zhiyuan, had utterly failed and had nothing left.

In that instant, this man who in history would be the founding emperor of the Later Han felt as though ten thousand arrows had pierced his body. His liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys seemed to convulse in violent waves. He tasted something rank and sweet in his throat, could not hold back, opened his mouth, and with a "wah," spat out a mouthful of blood.

"My son! My son! The pain is killing me!"

Liu Zhiyuan screamed three times, his head lolled to one side, and he plunged from the top of the Nanhe county wall.

In the second year of Shaoming of Zhang Zhou, on the seventh day of the sixth month, Liu Zhiyuan broke out of Jize County with his remnants and fled to Nanhe County. Upon the shocking news of his eldest son Liu Chengxun's death, and with his own fortunes utterly exhausted, tormented no little by wind-cold illness, Liu Zhiyuan vomited two great mouthfuls of blood, fell from the top of the Nanhe wall, and died on the spot.

When Zhang Zhao arrived, he ordered Liu Zhiyuan's remains collected, and dispatched additional elite cavalry to continue pursuing the Hedong soldiers scattered through the countryside, ensuring they would not roam about and turn bandit.

Immediately after, Wang Yin, who had been holding Jize County, after being beaten back in an attempt to break out, held on for another two hours before opening the gates and leading the more than nine thousand Hedong troops in Jize County out to surrender.

After the main force in Jize County surrendered, in the great stockade that had been battered with heavy casualties by catapults, the fierce Hedong generals Liu Ci, Li Tao, and others also led more than two thousand men out to surrender.

Thus, this great battle over control of everything north of the Yellow River ended in complete victory for Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhao first struck the Khitan with twenty-three thousand elite cavalry, slaying the Khitan generals Yelu Wuzhi and Xiao Han in battle. The Khitan Emperor Yelu Ruan took his own life, and of the forty thousand Khitan troops, fewer than ten thousand escaped.

Then Zhang Zhao turned his army back, caught up with Liu Zhiyuan, who had been wasting time below the walls of Beizhou, at the Zhang River. In one battle he forced the crossing, and in a second he shattered the entire Hedong army.

On the Hedong side, Shi Hongzhao, known as the fiercest general of Hedong, died in battle, as did the valiant general Wang Jingchong. The dead and wounded numbered more than four thousand. The Tuyuhun fled first, and then Wang Yin surrendered with the remnants.

Of the entire Hedong army, forty-four thousand men had set out, yet almost none returned to Hedong. The army was essentially annihilated, and Liu Zhiyuan also perished.

With this, the twenty-year-old pattern of marching out from Hedong to seize the Central Plains was utterly ended.

On the eighth day of the sixth month, Bai Zairong, shot in the buttocks, was discovered by the Xingzhou militia. In the ensuing resistance, he and more than ten of his yabing guards were all killed.

On the eleventh day of the sixth month, Li Rong, whom Zhang Zhao had appointed Military Governor of the Zhaoyi Army at Shangdang Prefecture, arrived at Luzhou (present-day Changzhi, Shanxi) with three thousand troops.

That very night, the Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou fell into internal strife. The yabing guards killed Li Wanchao, the Military Governor appointed by Liu Zhiyuan, and came out of the city to surrender.

On the eighteenth day of the sixth month, Zhang Zhao sent Li Cunhui south, and he reached the heavily besieged Fuyang.

Li Cunhui rode alone into Fuyang. Guo Rong, the actual commander of the Hedong troops in Fuyang, covered his face in shame at the sight of Li Cunhui and withdrew into the government office to hide.

Li Cunhui immediately sought out the deputy army commander Guo Jin. When Guo Jin heard the news of Liu Zhiyuan's death and saw Li Cunhui holding his leather belt, he burst into loud weeping and said to Li Cunhui.

"When a king falls like a mountain, someone must show loyalty. Please allow him to mourn Liu Zhiyuan for three days."

Li Cunhui was taken aback. At first he had thought Guo Jin meant to take his own life, and had been about to draw a knife and hand it to him. But Guo Jin only wanted to observe mourning, so Li Cunhui agreed at once.

Guo Jin then tore two feet of white hemp cloth and wrapped it around his arm, wept a few times with the officers great and small, and then received his orders and went into the government office to see Guo Rong.

At this moment, Guo Rong was in an agony of indecision. In his heart, when he had left the Zhang Zhou army to return to Hedong, he had been deceived by the grave illness of his aunt, Lady Chai. His heart had never been with the Hedong faction.

Now the aunt he regarded as a mother had long since passed away. His uncle Guo Wei had several wives and concubines and three or four sons, so he was hardly lacking this adopted son.

Moreover, because of Guo Rong's time in the Zhang Zhou army, Guo Wei, to avoid arousing Liu Zhiyuan's suspicion, had never been close to Guo Rong. The ones he favored were his nephew Li Chongjin and his son-in-law Zhang Yongde.

In his heart, Guo Rong had long regretted it bitterly, but constrained by duty to his parents, he could not defect to Zhang Zhao earlier.

Now, knowing that Li Cunhui trusted him so much as to ride alone into Fuyang, he was truly overwhelmed with shame and could not bear to face an old friend.

Guo Jin of course understood Guo Rong's feelings, and at once urged him, "We are at the end of our road, yet the Son of Heaven is still willing to offer amnesty. The Duke of Shouchang Commandery riding alone into the city—what trust that is!

Among all the Hedong generals, none has received such honor. It shows how greatly the Sage esteems you, General. If you still avoid meeting him, then you truly cannot tell good from bad."

"And once the general has submitted, he can also provide a step down for Grand Marshal Guo."

Upon hearing this, Guo Rong no longer hesitated. He came out to meet Li Cunhui, then led 4,300 Hedong troops out of the city to surrender. Fuyang, the Hedong army's most important stronghold in Hebei, fell without a fight.

On the twenty-fifth day of the sixth month, Zhao Kuangzan, Zhang Zhou's Prince Consort Commandant and Military Governor of the three garrisons of Heyang Prefecture, dispatched the fierce general Zhao Siyuan with 2,000 troops, together with the imperial envoy Wang Jiu, to arrive at Jinzhou (Linfen, Shanxi).

Wang Yan, Military Governor of the Jianxiong Army at Jinzhou in Hedong, led all 3,000 men of the Jianxiong Army out of the city and surrendered to Wang Jiu. Jinzhou likewise returned to the allegiance of the state.

On the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month, Zhang Zhao sent Yan Jin with 20,000 troops to storm Liaozhou, then advanced from the southeast directly on Taiyuan.

Li Rong, Military Governor of the Zhaoyi Army at Luzhou in Shangdang Prefecture, also led 3,000 men north, seized Qi County south of Taiyuan, and then arrived beneath the walls of Taiyuan.

From Yunzhou (Datong, Shanxi), Zhe Congyuan — Zhang Zhou's Administrator of the Ningxia Province, Commander-in-Chief of Fugu Garrison, and Marquis of Yunzhong — led 10,000 imperial troops of the Fugu and Yangwu garrisons south from Yunzhou and also closed in on the northern outskirts of Taiyuan.

On the twenty-eighth day of the sixth month, Li Sanniang, Liu Zhiyuan's principal wife, accompanied by Liu Chengyou, Liu Zhiyuan's second son, and escorted by Liu Chong, Liu Zhiyuan's half-brother by a different mother, went out through the eastern gate of Taiyuan and surrendered to Yan Jin.

Yan Jin did not dare accept the surrender himself. He merely sent 500 cavalry to escort Zhang Liecheng, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Li Fang, Secretary of the Wangyi Bureau, into Taiyuan to seal the Taiyuan prefectural treasury. He then ordered the officials and officers of Taiyuan to remain at their posts, and sent men to notify Zhang Zhao — who was still in Xingzhou pacifying the hearts of the people of Hebei — to hasten to Taiyuan.

At this point, of the Hedong military faction that had supported Liu Zhiyuan, only Guo Wei, Bai Wenke, and Guo Congyi's force of 12,000 men at She County remained, along with the Tuyuhun nomads roaming the regions of Shizhou, Xizhou, and Lanzhou, who had not yet submitted.

All the rest had been taken by Zhang Zhou. Zhang Zhao's strategy of unifying both banks of the Yellow River was essentially accomplished.

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