Chapter 632: Sage Zhang's Greatest Treasure Under Heaven

Ma Xiguang was indeed in a great hurry, but contrary to everyone's expectations, what he was anxious about was not returning to Chu to inherit the throne — he was anxious to go back and give it up.

That's right! He wanted to abdicate.

Although King Ma Xifan of Chu, who died of illness in the fifth month, had left a final command for him to inherit the great authority of Ma Chu, because Ma Xiguang had been detained in the eastern capital of Kaifeng by Zhang Zhao's stratagem, Ma Xifan's other younger brother — Ma Xiguang's elder brother Ma Xi'e — immediately seized the chance to rise in revolt at Langzhou (present-day Changde, Hunan).

Now he has colluded with the various Man tribes of the Langzhou stream caves and is leading seven thousand troops back to Tanzhou, seeking to inherit the great position.

But Zhang Shaodi, the Chief Commander of the Wu'an Army's yabing guards young lords, who holds the real power in Ma Chu, along with Liu Yantao, Commander of the Tanzhou water army, and others, are unwilling to let Ma Xi'e enter the city, and the two sides are now fighting around Yiyang and Yuezhou.

Ma Chu's own strength was not formidable, because at this time most of Hunan, where Ma Chu was located, had not yet been developed.

Apart from Tanzhou (Changsha), Langzhou (Changde), Yuezhou, Yiyang, and a few other places, the rest of the territory was still occupied by the various stream-cave Man tribes.

With a small territory, victory and defeat would be decided quickly. Ma Xiguang's entire family was in Tanzhou, and he feared that if he returned too late his whole family would be killed by Ma Xi'e, so he was anxious to go back and declare his willingness to give up the throne, in exchange for harmony between the brothers.

But do not imagine that this fellow was a man of lofty character who would willingly give up glory and wealth to keep brothers from killing each other. In truth, he simply knew his own limits, and was weak-willed by nature.

In history, he sent Liu Yantao to defeat Ma Xi'e, yet then said, "He is my elder brother — how could I bear to kill him? Dividing the state and ruling separately will do!"

Sigh! Even Zhu Yunwen could not keep the throne by saying such things.

Brother, this is the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms! With such womanly mercy, could you possibly come to a good end?

Sure enough, later Ma Xi'e successfully turned the tables, and had Ma Xiguang and his wife strangled together in the ancestral temple of the Ma clan.

The Qing historian Wu Renchen, in assessing Ma Xiguang, said that he "admired the empty formalities of Duke Xiang of Song, and brewed the real disaster of Yuan Tan." One could call that a remark that hits the mark.

And now, this rightful heir of Southern Chu could only wait anxiously in the eastern capital for Zhang Zhao to return to the capital. Without Zhang Zhao's order, no one dared let him leave the eastern capital.

Zhang Zhao's army marched back quickly from Beizhou, but after crossing the Yellow River, it began to slow down.

Because Erzhu Jing, Military Governor of the Weisheng Army at Xiangyang Prefecture, and Zhao Cunyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Zhangwu Garrison of the imperial army stationed at Fuzhou (Tianmen, Hubei), had secretly returned.

These two were the senior commanders Zhang Zhao had designated to deal with the Gao family of Nanping. They were the most familiar with Nanping intelligence, and so had been urgently summoned to report to the Sage in person.

The reason for such attention to Nanping was that Zhang Zhao intended this time to kill two birds with one stone — one might even say that the Gao family of Nanping was more important than the Ma family of Southern Chu.

There was no helping it: Jiangling was simply too important a place. If the Yangtze were compared to a giant serpent, then Nanping's Jiangling was the golden section point of that serpent.

Moreover, the Jiangling stretch of the Yangtze could be completely controlled by the two water cities to the north and south, so whoever held Jiangling could cut the Yangtze shipping lane and completely sever the link between the two great states of the south, Meng Shu and Southern Tang.

Furthermore, Nanping looked small, and its army was so wretched it was almost impressive — once outside Jiangling, it could not even beat the prefectural troops of Yingzhou in Zhou — but it did possess a water force of very strong fighting capacity.

One must understand that Jiangling bordered Southern Tang's Ezhou (Wuhan) and Ma Chu's Yuezhou, and its national strength was relatively weak, yet Nanping's water army actually had the upper hand over Ma Chu and Southern Tang. Only thus could it hold Jiangling without loss — it was the foundation of their state.

And Li Xiaojie, who had all along been gathering intelligence in Nanping, Ma Chu, and Southern Tang's Ezhou, had also sent word bringing Zhang Zhao a piece of startling news.

Zhang Zhao took the thick volume brought back by the Brocade Guard from Jiangling, glanced at only a few pages, then handed it to the three Secretariat Drafters beside him — Li Fang, Lu Yan, and Lu Yin — and let out a long sigh.

"This city of Jiangling cannot be taken by force. Do what you can to work on Gao Conghui and Gao Baorong. If it truly cannot be done, then let the Gao family continue to govern Jingnan for some years more!"

The three took it and looked it over, and expressions of admiration for Zhang Zhao appeared on their faces. Lu Yan even gazed at Zhang Zhao "with deep feeling" and said:

"Your servant once thought Liu Zhiyuan of Hedong was the foremost hero of the realm. Only today do I realize that compared to the Sage, Liu Zhiyuan is no more than a pig or a dog."

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It turned out that this thick little volume was a catalog, recording more than one hundred thousand books.

In the residence of the Military Governor's office of Jingnan, the Gao family of Nanping had a library tower, whose collection encompassed everything.

There were more than a thousand unique and rare editions from past dynasties collected by Gao Jixing and Gao Conghui.

More than four thousand volumes of histories and biographies from successive dynasties. And more than one hundred thousand volumes of other books on medicine, divination, astrology, mountains and rivers, geography, agriculture, fishing, and hunting.

The unique copy of the Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases that Gao Baorong had presented to Zhang Zhao the year before was one of them.

In history, after the Song army took control of Jiangling, although it did not plunder the city on a large scale, the soldiers and officers did plunder freely within the inner city, in the Jingnan Military Governor's office.

The commander-in-chief Murong Yanzhao and others failed to control them properly, which led to a fire in the office, and the library tower was caught up in it as well. In the end, less than a third of the books were rescued.

Zhang Zhao waved his hand. He reckoned that among the emperors of the present day, not one could value these ancient texts more than he did, or better understand what precious wealth they were.

Of course, the reason he said to let the Gao family govern Nanping for some years more was that he knew Gao Conghui did not have long to live.

"We do not love the Gao family's treasures and curios, for they cannot be eaten when hungry nor worn when cold. Only these hundred thousand and more volumes of books are works that our forebears produced with painstaking effort.

That today's farming and weaving are several times what they were in antiquity, and that today we can know the rises and falls of a thousand years past, is all because books have been handed down through the ages.

The state of Nanping can be obtained again, but if the texts treasured by the Gao family are once lost, they can never be obtained again."

"Your Majesty is truly a sage Son of Heaven!" The three were deeply convinced, and Lu Yan praised him loudly: "With such a literary heart in the Sage, the pacification of the realm is only a matter of days."

Seeing how much attention Zhang Zhao paid to these books, Zhao Cunyi said, "While investigating in Fuzhou, your servant learned that the Gao family's book collection was all sought out and organized by Sun Guangxian, a retainer in their private administration, who holds the concurrent posts of Acting Director of the Palace Library and Vice Censor-in-Chief.

This man is greatly trusted by the King of Jing, Gao Conghui, and Gao Baorong regards him as a teacher. The court might perhaps find a way to begin with this man."

Li Fang's eyes lit up, and he said to Zhang Zhao, "Your servant has also heard of Sun Guangxian's reputation. The man is devoted to poetry and books, understands the great principles, and holds part of Jingnan's power. He would indeed make a good point of entry."

Zhang Zhao could not help praising him: "One who can read books will surely understand that the unification of the realm is the great trend of the times. He has collected so many lost and unique editions — his merit is immense, and in days to come he will certainly not be treated poorly."

What Zhang Zhao did not know was that Sun Guangxian's merit in preserving what was on the verge of being lost was far greater than he imagined.

The man was a native of Guiping in Lingzhou (present-day Guiping Village, Xiangjia Township, Renshou County, Sichuan). His family had been farmers for generations, and when it came to Sun Guangxian's generation, he was gifted and intelligent, and moreover had the perseverance to study diligently. In the chaos of the Five Dynasties, from a poor and humble family, he ultimately achieved scholarly success.

The histories record that Sun Guangxian by nature was devoted to the classics, gathered several thousand volumes of books, sometimes copying them out by hand, tirelessly collating and correcting them, and did not give it up even in old age.

Whenever he worried that in times of war books were not readily available, and whenever envoys were dispatched to the various circuits, he never failed to give them generous sums of gold and silk to buy books, and so within three years he brought the collection to thirty thousand volumes.

His work, Miscellaneous Notes from the Northern Dream, is an extremely important supplement to the historical record from Emperor Wuzong of Tang to the end of the Five Dynasties.

And although Gao Jixing and Gao Conghui of Nanping were themselves military men by origin, with little in the way of literary cultivation, they strongly supported Sun Guangxian's efforts to collect works and rare editions.

Not only did they let Sun Guangxian build a library tower in the office, but whenever Gao Conghui plundered other people's tribute goods, any books he came across would first be sent to Sun Guangxian.

The Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases presented by Gao Baorong was one such item: twenty years earlier, after the fall of the Former Shu, the Later Tang brought out the Former Shu treasures and sent them down the river, where they were intercepted and seized by Gao Jixing, and then discovered, organized, and preserved by Sun Guangxian.

At this point in the conversation, Lu Yan calculated for a moment, then said to Zhang Zhao, "Your servant was formerly an official of Hedong and has only newly submitted to Your Majesty, so Jingnan surely does not yet know of it.

In my household there are also thirty surviving scrolls of Ban Shupi's Sequel to the Records of the Grand Historian. If I use them as an introduction, Sun Guangxian will certainly be unable to resist the temptation, and I can approach him and probe his attitude."

Ban Shupi was Ban Biao, the father of Ban Gu, Ban Chao, and Ban Zhao. Ban Gu's Book of Han was revised and completed on the basis of Ban Biao's Sequel to the Records of the Grand Historian.

Correspondingly, after the Book of Han appeared, the Sequel to the Records of the Grand Historian became very rare, so even thirty surviving scrolls were still extremely precious.

As soon as Lu Yan spoke, Erzhu Jing, Zhao Cunyi, Li Fang, and Lu Yin all looked toward Zhang Zhao.

It was obvious: Lu Yan was a former official of Hedong, had followed Zhang Zhao for less than ten days, and his loyalty had not yet been proven. He could go to Nanping to gather intelligence as he said — but he could also go to Nanping and sell Zhang Zhao out.

Zhang Zhao was not worried in the least. What a joke — a man who in history would stake his life and future to preserve Guo Rong's bloodline could never do such a thing.

Besides, the more a man has read, the more he is infected by the Confucian ideal of grand unity.

In the realm today, Great Zhou under the Zhang is the legitimate line of China, and the rest are separatist regimes — the situation is already plain. Even though Lu Yan had only just been taken in by Zhang Zhao, he could never betray him.

"Wenbing, this mission carries too much risk. If anything should go wrong, would we not be throwing away a fine talent for nothing?

Let the Embroidered Guard agents in Jiangling handle this. If matters go awry, they are highly skilled in martial arts and know Jiangling's inner workings well, so protecting themselves should be no problem."

Lu Yan was deeply moved. Zhang Zhao had not once considered the question of his loyalty, but was instead concerned for his personal safety. His eyes grew hot, and he said to Zhang Zhao,

"Your servant is but a new arrival, yet receives such care from the Sage. How could I not exert myself to the utmost?

The Embroidered Guard are certainly clever in their methods, but Sun Guangxian is a refined man of letters and a minister of Jingnan. Ordinary words will never move him.

Rest assured, Your Majesty. Our Great Zhou is at the height of its power. Even if the King of Jing grows angry, he would not dare kill your humble servant. At worst, it will be a spell in prison."

Zhang Zhao wore a look of hesitation and difficulty. Even from several meters away, Lu Yan could feel the struggle within Zhang Zhao, so he stepped forward once more and knocked his head to the ground in a full prostration.

"The unification of all under Heaven is your servant's long-cherished wish. I beg Your Majesty to grant it!"

If Emperor Wen of Han or Emperor Taizong of Tang were here, they would surely give me, Sage Zhang, twenty-four likes. A plainly dangerous mission, and in the end it was worked around until the minister was begging to go.

So I, Sage Zhang, sighed and said, "Since Wenbing insists on going, then We shall issue you a secret edict to carry on your person. Should anything happen, show this secret order to Gao Conghui. He will not dare harm your life."

Lu Yan, extremely moved, prostrated himself once more in thanks. "Your servant kowtows in gratitude for Your Majesty's sacred grace."

"Oh! Right — those thirty remnant chapters of the Shiji and its sequels, Wenbing, find a few clerks from the Secretariat and the Terrace of the Phoenix to copy them out as soon as possible. When it comes to books, the more the better."

Everyone laughed, and Lu Yan rose with a smile. "Your servant has already made two copies. I shall present them at once."

Once arrangements were complete, Lu Yan set out that very night for Jingnan under the protection of twenty riders of the Left Yulin Guard and three Embroidered Guard agents from Jingnan.

Zhang Zhao likewise issued orders at once: Liu Zaisheng, Commissioner of the Shannan Command, Chief Minister of the Shannan Province, and Duke of Hetian, was to organize the Shannan garrison — the Weiwei, Yingyang, and Zhangwu garrison commands of the imperial army, along with the yabing guards of the Weisheng Army of Xiangyang Prefecture — and begin training, in preparation for the southern campaign.

At the same time, he sent orders to Ma Zhaoyuan, Commissioner of Military Affairs for the Huai region, Chief Minister of the Jianghuai Province, Military Governor of the Wuning Army of Xuzhou Prefecture, and Duke of Jiuquan.

He too was ordered to train the Shenwei Right Army of the personal army stationed at Xuzhou, the Xiongwu and Lingwu garrison commands of the imperial army, and the yabing guards of the Wuning Army, in preparation for redeployment.

The reason for drawing on these two forces was that the great host Zhang Zhao had levied for the northern campaign against the Khitan and Liu Zhiyuan had already been in the field for more than seven months, and most of them would need a month's rest before they could fight again.

Moreover, Zhang Zhao had no intention of repeating the northern campaign against the Khitan and Liu Zhiyuan, when he had marched out with over a hundred thousand men at once.

He planned to rely mainly on the garrisons of Xiangyang Prefecture in Shannan and Xuzhou Prefecture in the Huai region. From the central personal army and imperial army, ten or twenty thousand men at most would suffice.

Of course, Zhang Zhao also planned to move part of the naval force commanded by Du Lun Chixin and Zhao Yanjin — though they would only move the troops, not the warships.

As for the warships, naturally they were waiting to take over those of Nanping and Southern Chu.

On the twentieth day of the eighth month, the homesick expeditionary army of Great Zhou covered more than thirteen hundred li in just seventeen days.

Averaging over seventy li a day — for an army, even one as well supplied with mules and horses as the Great Zhou forces, that was already very fast.

Because the officers and men had received their rewards and were all in a hurry to get home for the Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth month.

Fortunately, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not yet in vogue in this era. Had it been, Zhang Zhao reckoned he would have been roundly complained about.

This was also why Zhang Zhao was not prepared to send the personal army and imperial army south immediately. In such circumstances, they simply could not be sent out.

Er — well, it was not exactly that they could not be sent. Given Zhang Zhao's prestige, forcing them out would have been no problem. But how much fighting strength would remain, and whether the men would harbor resentment and slack off on the battlefield — that was hard to say.

Zhao Kuangyin returned home in high spirits to his house in the north of the inner city. His younger brother and sisters swarmed around him, laughing and shouting with joy. His mother, Lady Du, was preparing the meal, but Zhao Kuangyin waved his hand.

"Mother, put that aside for now. Call over the neighbors — the Sage has gifted us a fat donkey. Let's slaughter it and let the whole street have a feast."

Lady Du came out in surprise and saw that Zhao Kuangyin was indeed leading a fat, large gray donkey. His eight-year-old second brother, Kuangyi, was having the time of his life riding on the donkey's back, while his sisters watched Brother Zhao the Second with longing eyes, clamoring to get up too.

"This donkey is quite gentle — even Erlang can ride it." Geng, the concubine of Zhao Hongyin, said in surprise, watching Zhao the Second on the donkey's back.

Zhao Kuangyin's eye twitched. Gentle, his foot. In the camp, this donkey was famous for being lazy and gluttonous, and it loved to bully the other donkeys. It had even bitten the auxiliary soldier who fed it. It was a tyrant among donkeys — otherwise how could it have gotten so fat and strong?

Still, Zhao Kuangyin mused, it did seem that the donkey was especially gentle with Erlang.

At that moment his father, Zhao Hongyin, came out. Seeing Zhao the Second on the donkey's back, he nodded with satisfaction.

"Our Zhao family is a military family, after all. Erlang seems to have a talent for riding and archery.

Tomorrow I shall go to the horse market and buy a somewhat shorter Xiazhou horse. You two must not shield him any longer. This is the age for warriors to win merit and build careers — how can he do without practicing riding and archery?"

Lady Du thought it over and did not contradict Zhao Hongyin. In earlier years she had used Zhao the Second's frailty as an excuse, unable to bear making him suffer through martial training. But now that he had grown so fat and sturdy, there was no excuse not to train him.

Just then, a baby's wail rang out from inside, and Lady Du hurried off to tend to her third son, Zhao Tingmei, who had been born only three or four months before.

Geng looked regretfully at the fat gray donkey and said, "Such a fat, strong donkey would make a fine laborer. Wouldn't eating it be a waste?"

Zhao Kuangyin's expression turned a little strange. "When His Majesty bestowed this donkey, he specifically instructed that we slaughter it for the meat, and said that Erlang is frail and should eat more of it."

"Ah?" Zhao Hongyin and Geng looked at each other, completely baffled by the Emperor's ways. Bestowing a donkey specifically, and telling Zhao the Second to eat more of it — what was the meaning of that?

Meanwhile, Zhao the Second on the donkey's back, learning that his precious donkey was about to be eaten, felt a surge of grief for no reason he could name, and burst into loud sobs.

Seeing the worried look in his father Zhao Hongyin's eyes, Zhao Kuangyin knew what he was concerned about.

"Father, do not worry. Your son has won tremendous merit in this campaign. The Sage has promoted me to General of the Right Longxiang Guard, and intends to enfeoff me as Count of Guide.

Moreover, Zhao Cunyi, the Commander of the Zhangwu Garrison, is soon to be promoted, and your son is very likely to succeed him as Commander of the Zhangwu Garrison."

Only then did Zhao Hongyin relax. Perhaps the Emperor simply wanted them to have a good meal of donkey meat.

While the Zhao family prepared to eat donkey meat, I, Sage Zhang, was facing the most irresistible flattery in the world.

The moment he returned to the palace, Sage Zhang's six sons and nine daughters surrounded him at once.

From the ninth daughter, who was just learning to babble and had not even been formally named, to the fourteen-year-old Zhang Xiancun.

One held up a painting for his appreciation; another began showing off having memorized a hundred poems; yet another was demonstrating martial skills with a spear taller than himself.

The youngest, the ninth daughter, Yanniang, was calling out "Dada, Dada" in her slurred baby speech as she clambered up onto him.

There was no help for it — Sage Zhang had been constantly campaigning north and south, and had not spent much time at home, so the competition for his favor was naturally fierce.

Of course, some of the children simply missed their father after not seeing him for so long.

Zhang Xichong had already arrived at the palace gate with a memorial on fiscal and tax reform, but Zhang Zhao could only helplessly send him back and tell him to come again tomorrow.

Sage Zhang knew what Zhang Xichong's memorial was about: the fiscal and tax policies of Great Zhou had reached a point where they had to be adjusted, and many malpractices of the previous dynasty also needed to be abolished.

But Zhang Zhao did not want to make a decision right away. He planned to summon He Ning, Feng Dao, Zhao Ying, Fan Zhi, and others in batches, to consult and understand before deciding.

Old Master Zhang Xichong, because of his years of campaigning in his youth, is afflicted with many old ailments, and lately his energy and health have begun to fail him. He very much wants to carry out some benevolent governance so as to leave a good name in the histories, so Zhang Zhao has to be cautious and cannot listen to him alone.

But Zhang Xichong happens to have a fiery temper, and he was also the earliest Central Plains senior minister to follow Zhang Zhao, so his seniority is plain for all to see, and Zhang Zhao finds it awkward to rebuff him to his face.

This makes it all the more necessary to understand the situation clearly in advance, so as to respond in a targeted way. Thus he simply used the children as an excuse to send the old master back first.

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