Chapter 637: Able to Hold, but Only a Little

Yin Zhengqi had already been in Xiangyang Prefecture for fifteen days, and in those fifteen days, the Shannan Province had gathered more than thirty thousand troops.

Among them were nine thousand men from the three imperial guard garrisons originally stationed in Xiangyang Prefecture — Weiwu, Zhangwu, and Dingyuan — plus one thousand men of the Weisheng Guard, who had just been converted from yabing guards into garrison troops, for a total of ten thousand.

Ma Zhaoyuan (Ma Yaozi), who had hurried over from Xuzhou, also brought three thousand men of the Right Shenwei Guard of the personal army, six thousand men from the two imperial guard garrisons of Xiongwu and Lingwu, and one thousand men of the Wuning Guard of the Xuzhou garrison, also totaling ten thousand.

Yin Zhengqi himself brought three thousand men of the Right Longxiang Guard of the personal army.

After receiving word that Ma Xi'e had let his troops loose to sack Tanzhou, Zhang Zhao sent Shanzhu'er Luo Shande at the head of three thousand men of the Left Shenwei Guard of the personal army to escort Ma Xiguang to Xiangyang Prefecture.

In this way, the elite personal army and imperial guard troops that Zhang Zhou had stockpiled in Xiangyang Prefecture alone reached as many as twenty-four thousand men.

Adding the two thousand garrison troops, plus six thousand auxiliary troops to be selected from the sons and dependents of the various personal army and imperial guard units as needed, Yin Yaozi now had under his command a total of thirty-two thousand combat-ready soldiers who could fight at any time.

In terms of numbers and elite quality, it could not compare to the forty thousand troops Zhang Zhao had personally mobilized when he marched against Liu Zhiyuan and Yelu Ruan.

But for a tiny separatist regime like Nanping, which had only a little over ten thousand water and land troops, or Ma Chu, where handing out a long spear made a man a soldier and which had only forty thousand troops, calling this an army of national annihilation would not be an exaggeration.

And Yin Zhengqi had long been minded to conquer Nanping. The great army had trained together in Xiangyang Prefecture for fifteen days, and what they drilled was not field battle.

Because there was nothing much to drill there. More than thirty percent of the backbone officers in Zhang Zhou's personal army and imperial guards were from that original Liangzhou cohort, already so familiar with one another that they could not be more familiar.

So what Yin Yaozi drilled was actually the extreme scenario of the Gao family holding Jiangling to the death, and then Shu troops coming downriver while Southern Tang troops came upriver to relieve Jiangling.

The reason he had not immediately marched south was simply that Zhang Zhao would not permit it.

Moreover, Zhang Zhao had repeatedly sent Ma Zhaoyuan and Luo Shande to tell him that Jiangling must not be destroyed by the flames of war, and that above all else the library of the Prince of Jing's mansion must be preserved — which made Yin Zhengqi even less willing to take risks.

But soon enough, just as Yin Zhengqi was counting the days on his fingers, Lu Yan sent word from Jiangling.

The messenger said only one simple thing: Lu Yan, Drafter of Edicts in the Secretariat, requests that the Great General of the Southern Expedition, Yin Zhengqi, immediately lead the great army to close in on Jiangling.

Zhang Zhao had by now restored the titles of Great General and the four generals of the Front, Rear, Left, and Right — though not as regular military posts, but simply for use on occasions like this, giving a few generals titles to make unified command easier, and incidentally replacing those ugly Five Dynasties offices like Formation Deployer.

And the idea of having Yin Zhengqi lead the great army straight south was one Sun Guangxian had given to Lu Yan.

That day, after Lu Yan had stunned Sun Guangxian with two poems in succession, the two of them talked in detail for half a day, and only then did Lu Yan tell Sun Guangxian the reason Zhang Zhao would not let the great army attack Jiangling directly.

This happened to scratch the itchiest spot in the heart of Sun Guangxian, a man mad about books, and when he further heard that Zhang Zhao praised his great merit in collecting unique and sole surviving editions, Sun Guangxian immediately decided to come over.

As a trusted confidant of the Gao family who had been a key minister of Nanping since the time of Gao Jixing, Sun Guangxian knew very clearly where the weakness of the Nanping Gao family lay.

It was that Nanping was the least capable of self-defense among all the states under Heaven, so the Nanping Gao family had in fact always been wavering between resisting and offering up their land in submission.

If they resisted, they certainly could not win, and might well end up dead and their state destroyed. If they offered up their land in submission, they felt unwilling.

So the best way to deal with the Gao family was to apply extreme pressure. Only when the dreadful fate had already arrived and a decision had to be made would it be convenient for Sun Guangxian to persuade the Gao family to surrender.

As a key minister of two Nanping reigns, Sun Guangxian very much agreed with what Lu Yan said: the only way out for the Nanping Gao family was to offer up their land in submission in exchange for the favor of the Shaoming Son of Heaven and become honored figures of the new dynasty. Resistance would absolutely leave no path to survival.

On the twentieth of the ninth month, Yin Zhengqi, having received Lu Yan's message, immediately mustered thirty thousand troops and conscripted forty thousand laborers — seventy thousand in all — and began marching south from Xiangyang Prefecture. At the same time, Yin Zhengqi ordered Left General Ma Zhaoyuan to command eight thousand men as the vanguard.

From Xiangyang Prefecture to Jiangling — that is, Jingzhou — there had always been only one road: follow the Han River downstream, and after reaching Jiaqian Town in Yingzhou, northwest of Jingzhou, go overland to Jiangling.

The reason for choosing this route was that traveling downstream from Xiangyang along the Han River was simply too convenient.

And at Jiaqian Town, the Han River suddenly became wide and shallow, and outside the high-water season it could be completely forded. In former years, when Wang Xianzhi attacked Jingnan, he had crossed at Jiaqian Town.

At this time, on the land of Hubei, there were three most important cities: Xiangyang, Jiangling (Jingzhou), and Ezhou (Wuchang).

Uh! Actually, later ages were more or less the same.

The essence of all Hubei lay in the Jianghan Plain, represented by Ezhou (Wuchang) and Jiangling. There the produce was rich, water transport well developed, and the population dense.

Even Nanping, which occupied only a small corner of the Jianghan Plain, had four hundred thousand people in Jiangling alone — so prosperous, one might say, that Zhang Zhao was practically drooling.

And what guarded this treasured land of fish and rice, the Jianghan Plain, was Xiangyang Prefecture to the north.

Xiangyang faced the Nanyang Basin, with the Jianghan Plain at its back. On its left were the western Hubei highlands, dominated by the Wu Mountains and Wudang Mountains; on its right was Mount Dahong; and it also held the key point of the Han River.

In retreat, Xiangyang could shield the rich Jianghan Plain; in advance, it could control and choke the Nanyang Basin, making it impossible for a northern regime descending from the Central Plains to easily obtain supplies in the Nanyang Basin, forcing it to expend great effort hauling vast amounts of grain, fodder, and baggage from the Central Plains.

Historically, to hold Jiangling one had to have Xiangyang Prefecture. Otherwise, even if one piled up heavy troops and barely held Jiangling, one would still face the complete devastation of the rich Jianghan Plain.

And looking at history, without Xiangyang, Jiangling could never be held; sooner or later it would be taken.

Jiangling without Xiangyang was like guarding against thieves a thousand days running — one moment of inattention, and all was lost.

So historically, Xiangyang was the key contested point between north and south. Lord Guan the Second did not have Xiangyang, and in the end he gave his life for it.

The Southern Song held Xiangyang and wore down the Mongols, then at the height of their power, until they lost their temper entirely.

And the Nanping of this time — they did not have Xiangyang. To them, on the contrary, Xiangyang Prefecture was like an elephant pressing its rear end against their heads: a great threat and deeply disgusting.

The Central Plains court, holding the entire Nanyang Basin, could dispatch troops south to strike Jiangling at any time.

Even more painfully, Yingzhou was not in Nanping's hands either. After the Central Plains army came down the Han River, it could assemble at leisure at Jiaqian Town in Yingzhou, then surround Jiangling and attack.

When the Khitan entered the Central Plains, Gao Conghui sent rich gifts over thousands of li to pledge his loyalty to Liu Zhiyuan, precisely in order to obtain Yingzhou.

That way, at least he could prevent the Central Plains dynasty from easily pulling a monkey-steals-the-peach on Jiangling.

Unfortunately, Liu Zhiyuan did agree — but the one who took the Central Plains was Zhang Zhao.

So Gao Conghui grew desperate and personally led eight thousand men to attack Yingzhou, and in the end made a great fool of himself.

Yin Shi, the Prefect of Yingzhou under Zhang Zhou, led only a little over three thousand prefectural and county troops of Yingzhou and routed the vanguard of Gao Conghui's Jingnan army, which in turn triggered the collapse of the entire army.

Having made a great fool of himself, Gao Conghui had no choice but to continue the strategy of his father, Prince Wuxin Gao Jixing, and began fortifying Yicheng, about a hundred li south of Xiangyang.

Yicheng, like Xiangyang, also sat astride the Han River, with the western Hubei mountains on its left and Mount Dahong to its east.

However, although Yicheng's location was critical, it could not control and choke the Nanyang Basin, nor could it completely seal off the passage between the western Hubei mountains and Mount Dahong. There were small paths on both sides that could be traveled, so it could not be counted as a truly key position.

It was just that for Nanping, which lacked both Xiangyang and Yingzhou, Yicheng was already the best choice.

The thirty thousand troops and forty thousand laborers under Yin Zhengqi's command soon set out from Xiangyang, a vast and mighty procession of more than two hundred boats, sails like a forest, banners blotting out the sky.

Nanping had stationed about four thousand men of the Jingmen Army at Yicheng, and had established two military officers there to guard it: the Jingmen Army Water and Land Troop Commander and the Yicheng Suppression Commissioner.

But although they knew the court had stockpiled a great army at Xiangyang, seemingly preparing to escort the lord of Ma Chu, Ma Xiguang, back to Tanzhou, they still had not expected Yin Zhengqi to lead the great army directly south to attack Yicheng.

The Jingmen Army Water and Land Troop Commander in Yicheng had just received the news when Du Lun Chixin, vanguard commander of Zhang Zhou's navy, arrived.

Du Lun Chixin had prepared several dozen fire ships and sent them straight down the Han River, quickly setting alight the first water gate on the outskirts of Yicheng.

By regulation, the Yicheng stretch of the Han River, being a key military position of Nanping, should have had wooden stakes planted in the water, iron chains laid out, and at least three water stockades protecting it.

But the actual situation was that since the early reign of Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang — that is, 926 AD — when the Central Plains court had once sent troops to attack Nanping, for twenty years the Central Plains court had simply never moved against Nanping again.

Nanping, though small, was wealthy, and the grain, cloth, and large quantities of handicraft goods it produced needed to be sold to the Central Plains.

At the same time, Nanping badly needed salt, sugar, and livestock from the Central Plains, as well as spices, gems, and other goods that came through the Silk Road.

So over these twenty years, Yicheng, as the key northern town of Nanping, had in practice become a large border trading city for commerce between the Central Plains and Nanping.

Merchants traveling north and south all gathered here, bringing goods of astronomical value, and the Jingmen Army, from the naval and land Troop Commanders at the top down to the common soldiers, all profited handsomely from the trade.

Why would they ever sink wooden stakes into the water or stretch iron chains across the river—defensive measures that would hurt trade?

And so Zhang Zhou's fire ships charged smoothly all the way to Yicheng's first water gate.

The Nanping naval forces were completely unprepared. Only after the first water gate had already been more than half burned down did they hurriedly set out, hoping to hold the second water gate.

But by then it was already too late. Sage Zhang's adopted son Zhao Yanjin, Naval Chief Inspector of the Hanshan Capital, and Inspector He Jiyun together, each leading several small boats, came charging in.

Zhao Yanjin in particular carried three bows, long and short, and standing at the prow shot left and right; more than ten of the enemy fell at the twang of his bowstring.

The Jingmen Army naval soldiers who had come to close the water gate were scared out of their wits by Zhao Yanjin's miraculous archery.

He Jiyun, stripped to the waist and gripping a great club, leaped across the river surface as if flying. With a roar, he jumped onto a small Jingmen Army boat, and the dozen or so soldiers aboard were all knocked into the water by him alone.

Seeing this, his soldiers' morale soared like a rainbow, and they charged fiercely after He Jiyun.

After they seized three fast boats of the Jingmen Army in succession, the Jingmen soldiers scattered in terror, and the Zhou naval forces seized the opportunity to take control of the second water gate.

At that moment, the spies planted in Yicheng by the Brocade Robe Personal Guard stirred up the city's merchants from north and south, and they began to clamor.

Many soldiers who had taken the Brocade Robe Personal Guard's bribes were ostensibly suppressing the unrest but in fact abetting it, and the city quickly fell into chaos.

The great merchants, who had long known what was coming, led their guards and directly surrounded the residence of Yicheng's Defense Commissioner.

Though these men bore the title of merchant, they were in fact no fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Anyone who could rise to the level of a great merchant at such a critical point on a great river had dozens or even hundreds of blood-stained thugs under his command.

Many of them were reformed mountain bandits and river pirates, and quite a few were even formed from yabing guards who had lost their Military Governors over the years and turned to banditry.

The sudden rising of these great merchants caught the Jingmen Army completely off guard. They swiftly stormed the residence of Yicheng's Defense Commissioner, seized the commissioner, and brought him up onto the city wall. The defending soldiers, seeing this, broke into an uproar, threw down their weapons, and each went home.

Over at the water fort, the naval and land Troop Commander was still wondering whether he should put up some resistance.

But then Yicheng behind him opened its gates and surrendered, so he too very readily ordered his men to open the water fort's gates and let the Zhou army in.

In barely a morning, Yicheng, the gateway to the Han River that Gao Jixing and his son Gao Conghui of Nanping had painstakingly built up, simply opened its gates and surrendered.

Of the four thousand Jingmen Army soldiers, thoroughly rotted by money, fewer than sixty died in battle before they abandoned resistance.

Yin Zhengqi did not even enter the city. After ordering Wang Quanbin, Chief Inspector of the Left Divine Might Guard of the personal army, to hold Yicheng with one thousand men, the main army continued south.

The next city below Yicheng was Jingmen, the old nest of the Jingmen Army.

But because Yicheng was simply too important, the Jingmen Army was basically all stationed in Yicheng, and Jingmen itself had only a little over a thousand soldiers.

They had no strength at all to resist the Zhou army's southward advance, and Yin Zhengqi took Jingmen without the slightest effort.

With this, the gates of Nanping's Jiangling City were thrown wide open.

But at this point, they could no longer simply bull ahead, because Jiangling was no small city. Ever since Guan Yu fortified Jiangling at the end of the Eastern Han, the city had been carefully maintained in every dynasty, and Gao Jixing and his son had placed even greater emphasis on Jiangling's defenses.

At this time, Jiangling had seven water forts along the river, more than ten beacon towers on land, and the city was divided into a northern and a southern half, with the natural barrier of the Yangtze to rely on.

Nanping's naval forces numbered as many as ten thousand men, and there were more than a dozen medium and small tower ships each capable of carrying over six hundred soldiers.

The city had ample grain, and the people, having enjoyed the Gao family's protection for decades, were loyal. To rashly resort to force would cut off every avenue of retreat.

So Yin Zhengqi ordered Ma Zhaoyuan to serve as vanguard, commanding six thousand cavalry and carrying the imperial edict issued by Zhang Zhao, to go to Jiangling City and proclaim the decree to Gao Conghui—and this was exactly one of Sun Guangxian's plans.

In Jiangling City, word of the capture of Yicheng and Jingmen had just arrived when wolf-smoke rose on all sides along the northern bank of the Yangtze. Gao Conghui had just ordered the six gates of Jiangling closed when Ma Zhaoyuan's cavalry arrived outside the city.

When Gao Conghui received Zhang Zhao's edict and saw that the man who had come was Ma Zhaoyuan—Chief Minister of the Jianghuai Province, Military Governor of the Wuning Army at Xuzhou Prefecture, General of the Right Divine Might Guard of the personal army, and Duke of Jiuquan Commandery—he immediately realized that the court's great army had truly arrived.

Gao Baoxu came galloping up from afar on a yellow horse. He threw himself down beside Gao Conghui and cried out, "Father, do not be alarmed! Please act quickly on your son's plan.

Let us first hold Jiangling City tightly, and at the same time send messengers to Meng Shu, the Southern Tang, and Ma Xi'e, explaining the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold.

As long as we can hold Jiangling for one month, reinforcements from the three sides will surely come. Even if they cannot defeat the Zhou army, they can still force them to withdraw."

At Gao Baoxu's words, more than ten officers—including Li Duan, Chief Commander of the Nanping naval forces; Liang Yansi, Chief Inspector of the young lord's guard; and the yabing officer Li Jingwei—all chimed in agreement, vowing to fight the Zhou army to the death.

Gao Conghui had originally been quite frail, but stimulated by the news of the court's great army arriving, he was suddenly invigorated. Looking at the towering walls of Jiangling, he found himself somewhat moved by Gao Baoxu's proposal.

"If we are to hold out, what of the people in the city?"

Gao Conghui hesitated slightly, because although Jiangling's fortifications were strong, after all, after decades of peace, the city's residents numbered in the tens of thousands.

And with the city gates now being sealed in an emergency, many people had not had time to leave the city. There were probably close to a hundred thousand civilians inside by now.

For the defenders, so many people were not entirely a good thing. Rather, with so many eyes and ears, trouble could easily arise after a long siege.

Moreover, no matter how ample the grain in the city, it certainly could not supply a hundred thousand people for long. In two or three months at most, there would be a food shortage.

Hearing his father's words, Gao Baoxu's brows shot up, and on his thin, weak face appeared a ruthlessness that ill matched his state of health.

"Father, at a time like this, how can we worry about all that? Before the Zhou army surrounds the city, drive out the old and weak in batches, leaving only able-bodied men and sturdy women inside, organized under military law. This will both reduce grain consumption and gain more than ten thousand strong hands to help defend the city."

Gao Conghui was stunned for a moment. He suddenly realized that this son he loved most was actually so cruel. But at the same time, Gao Conghui also abruptly sobered somewhat, and he slowly shook his head.

"For decades, we father and son in Nanping have been supported by the people. To now drive the women and children out to their deaths, while keeping their fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands on the walls to break their bones—that is going too far."

Gao Baoxu opened his mouth to speak again, but Gao Conghui waved his hand. "I will first see the court's envoy, and then we will speak. This matter still requires careful thought."

With that, without waiting for Gao Baoxu to speak, Gao Conghui left surrounded by his trusted yabing guards.

Sun Guangxian rested briefly in his residence, then slipped out through a concealed side door and headed straight for Gao Conghui's sleeping quarters.

He would never have proposed surrendering in the situation just now, because Gao Baoxu had clearly come prepared—otherwise Li Duan, Liang Yansi, and the others would not have immediately chimed in.

If he, Sun Guangxian, had opened his mouth to call for surrender, Gao Baoxu might not dare do anything to the gravely ill Gao Conghui, but would he not dare kill a mere Secretary?

Gao Conghui was in fact also waiting for Sun Guangxian to come, because ever since the death of Nanping's "State Preceptor" Liang Zhen, Sun Guangxian, as Liang Zhen's handpicked successor, had been handling all of Nanping's governmental affairs.

Gao Jixing and his son Gao Conghui trusted him deeply, and in a matter like this, they would certainly want to hear Sun Guangxian's advice.

Sun Guangxian also entered the Prince of Jing's palace through the back gate, and under the guidance of one of Gao Conghui's trusted inner attendants, went directly to Gao Conghui's secret chamber within the palace.

Seeing Sun Guangxian enter, Gao Conghui seized his hand and asked, "What does Mengwen think? Can my Gao family still hold Nanping?"

Sun Guangxian shook his head decisively. "Your servant told you years ago, Great King: Nanping has survived despite its small size only because of the chaos in the Central Plains.

But now a sage Son of Heaven has arisen in the Central Plains, and the great trend toward unification under heaven is already clear. For Nanping to defy that trend with a mere three prefectures is no different from a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

Gao Conghui still refused to give up. He pressed on: "With the great river at Jiangling as a natural moat, our sharp navy, soldiers and commanders united in purpose, and reinforcements from Shu and the Tang — can we still not hold?"

This time Sun Guangxian nodded. "We can hold! As the Tenth Young Lord says, if we can hold out for half a month, once the Shu and Tang reinforcements arrive, the imperial army will surely withdraw."

"If that is so, why does Mengwen still say we cannot hold?" Gao Conghui's eyes glinted, though his face seemed to show only puzzlement.

Sun Guangxian paid no heed to Gao Conghui's scrutinizing gaze, for he had never once thought of betraying Gao Conghui. What he sought was still to do his utmost to secure a good outcome for the Gao family.

"When I say we can hold, it is because this time we can certainly hold. When I say we cannot hold, it is because when the imperial army comes again next year, what then?"

That single sentence from Sun Guangxian left Gao Conghui stunned. He continued.

"Shu has suffered no pain of its own. It may come to our rescue once, even twice — but will it come a third time?

The Southern Tang can barely look after itself. If it dares to send troops this time, then next year the court's great army will surely march into Huainan to chastise him. With Li Jing scared out of his wits, would he still dare to rescue Jiangling again?

After the upheaval of Ma Xi'e in Chu, that state's strength is now less than ours. How can it serve as a support?

Moreover, when one asks others to send troops, if one does not give them grain, money, and goods, how will they be willing to withdraw? And even if we do give them grain, money, and goods, by then Jiangling will have suffered war after war — its walls ruined, its people destitute, its treasuries empty. How could the Gao family survive?"

Gao Conghui was left speechless. The strength drained from his entire body as if wrung dry. With a clatter, he slumped heavily onto his folding couch, though his heart remained deeply unwilling.

At that moment, Sun Guangxian stepped forward, seized Gao Conghui by the sleeve, and said: "How wise was the Great King before — sending the Deputy Commissioner, the Third Young Lord, to the capital to pay homage, winning the Son of Heaven's favor, and securing for the Fourteenth Young Lord a marriage alliance with a trusted noble of the Sage.

I have further heard that the Sage Shaoming intends to seek, for his adopted eldest son Zhang Liecheng, a distant-branch lady of the Gao family as a concubine.

Among all the states under heaven, is there any family closer to the Son of Heaven than the Gao?

To surrender our land and offer it up — what we give away is merely three prefectures and seventeen counties. What we gain is a whole family of dukes and marquises, enduring as long as the state itself. Under heaven, is there any bargain more profitable than this?

If the Great King does not decide soon, does he truly wish to watch the Gao family and the people of Nanping drown in rivers of blood?"

Sun Guangxian's three thunderous shouts shook Gao Conghui's heart and mind. Deep within him, a long crack split open.

"What Mengwen says is all counsel for the state! But since I, Gao Conghui, succeeded to this position, twenty years of sighing day and night have built this situation. I truly cannot lightly cast it aside. Allow me to think it over once more."

Sun Guangxian did not press Gao Conghui further, for he knew that with Gao Conghui's wisdom, he could think this problem through on his own. If he kept speaking, it would only backfire.

Besides, Gao Baoxu's actions today should also serve to alert Gao Conghui and spur him to a swift decision.

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