Chapter 670: As If Sun Wu Reborn, As If the Marquis of Liu Still Lived

The fighting grew more and more frequent, and the Zhou army's intentions grew more and more obvious — at least that was what Meng Chang believed.

Men, especially the ruler of a state, are always good at conquering territory on a map, and Meng Chang was no exception.

Even before Sun Hanshao's military report arrived, Meng Chang had already formed a judgment in his mind. Now that the report had come, Meng Chang was all the more certain.

He could not help feeling a touch of self-satisfaction that the foremost general of Shu was, after all, only on the same level as himself.

"This Lord of Zhou does have some ability. He knows that our Great Shu is no petty state like Nanping or Southern Chu, so he chose the steady course and struck first at Xingyuan Prefecture, not daring to gamble everything on the Qishan road.

Yet the art of war says: in battle, engage with the orthodox and win with the unorthodox.

The Zhou army has only the orthodox and no unorthodox. It has lost the meaning of Sun Wuzi's words: 'One skilled at the unorthodox is boundless as heaven and earth, inexhaustible as the rivers and seas.'"

As Meng Chang spoke, the self-satisfied look on his face was nearly leaping off it. Anyone who knew him would say this was Meng Chang; anyone who did not would think Sun Wu himself had possessed him, or that the Marquis of Liu had returned to the world.

And Wang Zhaoyuan at Meng Chang's side was of the same stamp, his pale, youthful, slender face nodding repeatedly like a rabbit spirit, wearing an expression of Zhuge-like brilliance, lacking only a goose-feather fan in his hand.

The bearing of this master and servant was not about saying Zhang Zhao had some ability — it was pure self-praise.

Zhao Tingyin's forehead veins bulged. He stared at Meng Chang's face, which was straining to hold back a laugh, and he very much wanted to stride up, slap Meng Chang to the ground, and spit a thick gob of phlegm in his face.

War is the great affair of the state, the ground of life and death, the way of survival and destruction, the most perilous thing under heaven. Behind every airy number lies the weight of ten thousand jun. How can it be treated so lightly as material for jest and self-glorification!

That Lord of Zhou, Zhang Zhao, when he first rose up had only a single trouble-making old servant at his side. In sixteen years he swept across tens of thousands of li and won the realm. He is a figure more formidable than Zhu Quanzhong or Emperor Zhuangmiao. To say he cannot use the unorthodox — is that even possible?

Do not think the Zhou unification of the realm is slow because the Lord of Zhou lacks ability. It is because he did not have the opportunity of Han Gaozu, who could borrow the whole realm's shared hatred of the tyrannical Qin, nor the family background and prestige of Emperor Taizong the Civil.

He rose up entirely out of nowhere, from the very bottom. The uncle he relied on, the Great King of Jin, was no more than a petty king of the Western Regions. That is why people feel he seems to have grown old before his achievements were complete.

But in truth, having started from nothing with no favorable wind to borrow, the Lord of Zhou's rise from the border wastes is already the stuff of legend.

Zhao Tingyin knew how terrifying such a man was. He could not possibly have only this one move of attacking Xingyuan Prefecture. What Zhao Tingyin could not fathom was: from where would this Son of Heaven of Zhou make his next move?

Still, he resolved to remonstrate. Troops could be shifted from anywhere, but the troops from Xingzhou (Lueyang County, Shaanxi) to Lizhou (Guangyuan, Sichuan) absolutely must not be moved. They should even reinforce the Motian Ridge on the Yinping road, guarding against the likelihood that the Zhou army would imitate Deng Ai.

But then Zhao Tingyin turned his head and saw the frantic look on his son Zhao Chongtao's face.

Seeing that Zhao Tingyin had noticed him, Zhao Chongtao shook his head again and again.

Zhao Tingyin knew what his son feared. Meng Chang was already dissatisfied with these old ministers from the Meng Zhixiang era. Previously Zhao Tingyin had thought Meng Chang only wanted to imprison Zhang Ye, but he had not expected Meng Chang to exterminate Zhang Ye's entire household of more than seventy people, not even sparing an infant less than a year old.

Of the three thousand sworn death-warriors Zhang Ye had recruited, nearly all were executed. Even more than a hundred yabing guards of the Suizhou Wuding Army who had followed Zhang Ye were killed along with them.

Meng Chang's loathing for these old ministers was now almost tangible.

If Zhao Tingyin stepped forward now, who could say whether Meng Chang had not also planted several hundred axemen here in the Xuanhua Palace?

Who could say that because Meng Chang could kill Zhang Ye, he could not kill him, Zhao Tingyin?

At these thoughts, Zhao Tingyin felt all hope drain away.

He had originally detested Zhang Ye too, for the man was indeed arrogant and overbearing, even harboring rebellious intent. But Meng Chang's brutal handling and cruelty had wounded the hearts of so many old ministers, and stirred in him a feeling of grief for his own kind.

Though Meng Chang was smiling smugly, he was in fact secretly observing the faces of everyone in the hall. Thus the flash of anger and disgust that crossed Zhao Tingyin's face was seen by Meng Chang with perfect clarity.

He had originally intended to send Zhao Tingyin to command the relief force. He knew Zhao Tingyin was the most suitable choice. But in Meng Chang's mind, the expression on Zhao Tingyin's face just now kept surfacing unbidden.

This old fellow — if he were allowed to lead troops and drive off the Zhou army this time, who knew how he would make things difficult for me once he returned to court.

Good heavens! The Zhou army had not even truly begun its fierce assault, and Meng Chang already believed victory was in his grasp, certain he had seen through every part of Zhang Zhao's plan.

This thrill of devising strategy within the command tent and deciding victory a thousand li away made Meng Chang unconsciously feel that since he was so brilliant and martial, it seemed anyone could be sent to drive off the Zhou army.

Seeing that Meng Chang was indeed hesitating, Wang Zhaoyuan's eyes lit up. He stared straight at Meng Chang with an expression that said: choose me, choose me, quickly choose me. He very nearly volunteered himself on the spot.

The reason Wang Zhaoyuan so wanted to go to the battlefield was that Meng Chang did harbor some desire to contend for the realm in this age of chaos, and naturally he liked to express such thoughts to the close Wang Zhaoyuan in ordinary times.

He often sighed: he, Sage Meng, was so brilliant and martial — why was there no great talent like Zhuge Wuning to assist him?

If he had a great talent like the Marquis of Wu under his command, why would he need seven expeditions from Qishan? One expedition would settle it.

When the superior has a liking, the subordinates will imitate it. Because Meng Chang often spoke this way, Wang Zhaoyuan, who mostly read without seeking deep understanding, developed a great interest in becoming a minister like Zhuge Wuhou.

Of course, it was also because Wang Zhaoyuan had just a tiny bit of self-awareness. Clearly, given his physical condition, he could never be a fierce general like Guan Yunchang or Zhao Zilong, who passed five passes and slew six generals, or charged seven times in and seven times out.

But he figured Zhuge Wuhou was a scholar, probably about the same as himself.

Wang Zhaoyuan looked at his own white robes, his fingers pale and slender as scallions, his high nose bridge and large eyes, his gait floating like an immortal. Zhuge Wuhou must surely have looked exactly like this — only so could he have the air of routing a million troops in casual conversation.

Still, Meng Chang knew where the limits lay. He did not doubt Wang Zhaoyuan's ability. On the contrary, because they often talked of heaven and earth together, Meng Chang precisely believed Wang Zhaoyuan was a great talent.

But he knew Wang Zhaoyuan had never been on a battlefield, and it would not do to entrust him with such a heavy responsibility right away.

So Meng Chang turned his gaze to the veteran general Shi Jun. Since he did not want to send Zhao Tingyin, Shi Jun was the only suitable choice left.

But Shi Jun was also a representative of the old ministers, so after thinking it over, Meng Chang decided to bring in some new blood.

"Draw ten thousand men from the Fengsheng, Yisheng, and Dingyuan armies, fifteen thousand from the four rotations of the Palace Guard, and five thousand tribal troops from the prefectures of Lu, Rong, and Xu, to reinforce the Shannan Circuit."

The Fengsheng, Yisheng, and Dingyuan armies were three of the six imperial guard armies established in the Meng Zhixiang era.

The prefectures of Lu, Rong, and Xu were the later Luzhou, Yibin, and Zigong. Except for Rongzhou, where Zigong had salt and was fairly prosperous, the other two places were still somewhat remote at this time.

The common feature of the three prefectures was that they were home to large numbers of warlike ethnic minorities. The separatist regimes that had long occupied Shu all liked to conscript them as soldiers, and Meng Shu was no exception.

The four rotations of the Palace Guard were an imperial guard force established in the Meng Chang era, selected from the sons of military families and the orphans of those who had died in state service.

The four rotations had been successively commanded by Li Jihong, son of the Meng Shu grandee Li Renhan; Zhao Yuanzhen, son of Zhao Jiliang; Zhang Jizhao, son of Zhang Ye; Hou Lingqin, son of Hou Hongshi; and Zhao Chongtao, son of Zhao Tingyin.

By now, however, Li Renhan and Zhang Ye had been done away with by Meng Chang, and Li Jihong and Zhang Jizhao had of course also been killed. Zhao Yuanzhen was away holding a military province.

Thus, of the four rotations of the Meng Shu Palace Guard at this time, two were in the hands of Hou Lingqin and Zhao Chongtao. The remaining two nominally appeared to be under Meng Chang's personal command, but in fact were controlled by Wang Zhaoyuan on Meng Chang's behalf.

The office of Commander of the Six Armies and All Guards, which was effectively the commander of the imperial guards, had long since been abolished by Meng Chang, and the military authority of imperial guard armies like the Yisheng and Dingyuan had long since been taken back. In some respects, one could say Meng Chang and Zhang Zhao were quite similar.

The only difference was that Zhang Zhao had the courage to make up his mind, and the corresponding ability, while Meng Chang was not fully prepared in any of these three respects.

Add to that his noble birth, and the fact that he had never gone down to the very lowest level to see things for himself, and the result was that Meng Chang was fine at political struggle, but when it came to managing every detail and micromanaging, Meng Chang fell short of Zhang Zhao by about one Guo Rong — simply not in the same class.

Of course, it was only much lower, not nothing at all. Fools like Ma Xiguang and Liu Chengyou were the ones who had nothing at all.

For instance, this time, once he had decided to reinforce Xingyuan Prefecture, Meng Chang was very decisive.

Once these thirty thousand men were drawn off, Meng Chang would have only the Xiaorui, Feizhao, and Yining armies left at his side.

And because these three armies had been established in the Meng Zhixiang era and had been purged after the deaths of Li Renhan and Zhang Ye, although they were called three armies, in reality they numbered only about seven thousand men, and their fighting strength could not compare with the thirty thousand being drawn off.

One could say that once a goal was set, Meng Chang could still commit himself fully, and his actions were not the least bit hesitant.

He appointed the veteran general Shi Yun as Chief Commander of the Southwest Field Headquarters, Wang Zhaoyuan as Army Supervisor, Li Tinggui as Vanguard Pacification Commissioner, and Zhao Chongtao and Han Baozheng as Deputy Pacification Commissioners, leading thirty thousand troops, together with tens of thousands of civilian laborers, proclaiming it a host of two hundred thousand, to go to the relief of Sun Hanshao at Xingyuan Prefecture.

As the great army set out, Meng Chang made a point of summoning Wang Zhaoyuan to his side. "This host today was called forth by you, my minister. Strive to win merit for your sovereign!"

Leading a great army to contend for the realm and achieve hegemony had always been the favorite pastime of this armchair strategist.

And in the actual arrangement of the army, the veteran general Shi Yun, nominally Chief Commander of the Field Headquarters, was in truth no more than a figurehead; real power still rested in the hands of Wang Zhaoyuan, the Army Supervisor.

The imperial guards, after all, had always garrisoned the capital and even the palace itself; they knew perfectly well which of the two, Shi Yun or Wang Zhaoyuan, they ought to obey.

Meng Chang understood this too, of course, which was why he placed such high hopes in Wang Zhaoyuan, wishing that Wang Zhaoyuan could win great merit and truly play the part of a Marquis of Wu, giving Meng Chang hope.

After the words of encouragement, Meng Chang also had the Chief Minister, Li Hao, Jointly Manager of Affairs with the Secretariat-Chancellery, arrange a banquet especially to send Wang Zhaoyuan off.

At the feast, Wang Zhaoyuan, swelling with pride and satisfaction, drank himself thoroughly drunk. He felt that these thirty thousand elite troops of Meng Shu must be invincible under Heaven, for Wang Zhaoyuan had never seen soldiers more imposing and ferocious than they.

At once, this fellow who had spent more than ten years at the Emperor's side like a servant to be ordered about, the moment he escaped Meng Chang's control, no longer knew how many bowls of rice he could eat.

Wang Zhaoyuan actually took hold of an iron ruyi scepter and rudely threw his arm around Li Hao's shoulders, saying with drunken, bleary eyes: "On this campaign, why stop at defeating the enemy? I shall take these twenty or thirty thousand tattoo-faced fierce young fellows and seize the Central Plains as easily as turning over my hand!"

Li Hao was first enraged, for Wang Zhaoyuan was nothing but a favored sycophant, and to throw his arm around the shoulders of him, the Chief Minister, was a gross impertinence. But after hearing Wang Zhaoyuan's words, Li Hao was stunned speechless.

He looked at Wang Zhaoyuan's expression, as if the man wished to ascend to the ninth heaven and seize the moon, and his mouth opened and closed twice. Suddenly he remembered what his son Li Xiaofeng had told him after returning from the Zhou realm, and Li Hao abruptly decided to keep his mouth shut.

'The late Emperor showed me the grace of promotion and great trust, but I have toiled conscientiously in support of the young sovereign for twelve years, and that debt is repaid. There is no reason to drag a household of more than fifty lives to ruin for the Meng clan's separatist state.' So Li Hao thought coldly.

North of the city, at the Han residence, Han Baosheng was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his elder brother Han Baozheng.

The Han brothers were originally from Luzhou. When war and chaos struck, both their parents died. Han Baozheng, already grown, had taken his younger siblings and thrown in his lot with Meng Zhixiang, then the Defender of Taiyuan, in order to stay alive.

Han Baozheng was brave and fierce in battle, always in the vanguard, and quickly won Meng Zhixiang's favor, being kept at his side as a personal attendant.

Thereafter, when the Meng clan entered Shu, Han Baozheng rose steadily through the ranks. After Meng Chang succeeded to the throne, Han Baozheng was sent out to the provinces as a military governor, and brought back within to command the imperial guards.

Yet like all the old ministers of Meng Zhixiang's time, Han Baozheng was both used and guarded against by Meng Chang.

Moreover, Han Baozheng was upright by nature, and whenever he saw something he could not abide, he would speak up. The previous year, when Meng Chang completed the Xuanhua Palace and held a grand selection of beautiful commoner women to fill the inner court, none of the officials dared say a word; only Han Baozheng submitted a sharply worded memorial.

In the end, Meng Chang was forced to release a batch of the women who had been forcibly taken into the palace, and he even praised Han Baozheng.

On the surface, this looked like a minister being upright and daring to speak, and a sovereign acknowledging his error and correcting it.

But in truth, from then on Meng Chang listed Han Baozheng among the overbearing old ministers, promoted him to the lofty but powerless post of Commissioner of the Northern Court of the Xuanhui Bureau, stripped him of actual military authority, and shelved him high up out of the way.

Had the Zhou army not invaded this time, Meng Chang would not even have given Han Baozheng a Deputy Pacification Commissioner post.

And when Han Baozheng returned to his residence, he immediately had his personal attendants begin preparing armor and weapons.

Though he was not as pessimistic as Zhao Tingyin, in his heart he too felt that this great battle would certainly not turn out as Meng Chang said, with the Zhou army retreating the moment they arrived.

But when he saw Han Baosheng, Han Baozheng's brow furrowed.

He had one younger brother and one younger sister. His brother Han Baosheng had no taste for the martial arts, but was outstanding in scholarship, and in the field of medicine had attained considerable mastery.

He was famed not only throughout Shu, but was also extremely well known in the Zhou realm and in the Southern Tang lands.

His younger sister Han Qiniang had married early into the Zhao family of Jingzhou, renowned physicians of Guanzhong. But later Jingzhou fell into war and chaos, and Han Baozheng believed his sister and brother-in-law had perished.

Unexpectedly, they had in the end been rescued by the Zhou sovereign, then Military Governor of the Guiyi Army. Not only had they survived, but his brother-in-law Zhao Jinfang had risen to the post of Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, concurrently overseeing the Imperial Medical Office.

His sister Han Qiniang, because she excelled at treating wounds from spears and staves and had saved countless lives, was called Lady Han by the troops, and had been granted the title of Lady of Shangdang Commandery — the only woman in the Zhou realm to receive a third-rank title without relying on her husband or son.

One could say that in the Zhou realm, his sister and brother-in-law's family enjoyed extraordinary favor, living even better than the brothers did in Shu.

"What have you come for again? If you mean to speak more of those treasonous words, then do not open your mouth."

Han Baozheng knew full well what Han Baosheng was after. Having said this, he glared fiercely at this younger brother of his, who was highly skilled in medicine but somewhat greedy for money. "A man must still have some integrity."

Han Baosheng was thick-skinned, and besides, he had lost his parents at eleven and had only grown up and learned to read thanks to his elder brother's protection. For others, "an elder brother is like a father" was just a saying, but for Han Baosheng, it was the plain truth.

So even when his elder brother berated him to his face, Han Baosheng did not care in the least, and could even manage to put on a smile.

"Elder Brother, don't be so quick to scold. Qiniang has sent a letter by someone from Luoyang. Take a look."

Han Baozheng very much wanted to snatch the letter and tear it to pieces, but he had not seen his sister in nearly twelve years, and in order to keep their relationship from being discovered, Han Baozheng had always told outsiders that his sister and brother-in-law's family had died in the chaos of war.

Back then, his parents and many members of the Han clan had died together in the chaos. Of the dozen or so siblings and cousins in the clan, only the three of them had survived. At the time, his sister Qiniang was only six years old, and Han Baozheng had always carried her on his back to keep her alive. His bond with her was far deeper than with Han Baosheng.

Now, because of the times, they had not seen each other for more than ten years. With a letter from his sister before him, even though Han Baozheng knew what it would contain, he still could not bear to tear it up unread. So he hesitated for a long while, and in the end took it and opened it.

In the letter, apart from greetings, only one matter was mentioned: that his sister Han Qiniang and brother-in-law Zhao Jinfang's eldest daughter, Rongniang, was seventeen years old and extremely gifted in medicine.

She had now entered the palace as a Dispenser of Medicines in the Bureau of Palace Supplies, with the rank of Physician of the Imperial Medical Office, and had greatly won the Empress's favor, constantly attending her side, and the Son of Heaven also often summoned her.

After reading it, Han Baozheng was silent for a dozen breaths, then with some difficulty spoke: "What is Qiniang's purpose in writing of these things?"

A flash of excitement and smugness crossed Han Baosheng's face. "The Sage, in the palace, greatly favors the daughter of Fu Yanqing, Duke of Zhending Commandery, and the daughter of Gao Xingzhou, Duke of Huailai Commandery.

The Empress is uneasy at heart, and wishes to recommend Qiniang's daughter Rongniang to attend constantly by the Emperor's side. Rongniang is beautiful as a flower and thoroughly versed in medicine — she can surely be a great help to the Empress!"

Well now! Han Baosheng was a Hanlin Academician of Shu, yet he had already begun calling Zhang Zhao "the Sage."

What Han Qiniang's letter said was also true. Empress Cao Yanxi no longer worried about Li Ruoliu, because she and her young aunt no longer had any fundamental conflict.

On the contrary, because of the historical-name effect, Zhang Zhao almost exclusively favored Fu Ying'er and Gao E'niang, and since each of these two women had a faction of military families behind her, Empress Cao Yanxi was extremely wary.

Twelve years earlier, Zhang Zhao had rescued Han Qiniang and her child from a sea of corpses and blood at Jingzhou. The little girl then held to Han Qiniang's breast had now grown up, and was exceedingly beautiful. Moreover, her mastery of medicine, especially massage techniques, had repeatedly drawn Zhang Zhao's attention.

Empress Cao Yanxi therefore decided to give a push, letting Zhao Rongniang enter the rear palace as well, to draw away some of the favor enjoyed by the Fu and Gao women.

Great lords like Fu Yanqing and Gao Xingzhou were difficult for Cao Yanxi to handle, but Zhao Jinfang and Han Qiniang posed no problem at all. So even if Zhao Rongniang were doted on to the heavens, she was not afraid.

Han Baozheng did not know how he felt. On one hand he was happy for his sister; on the other, he knew he was in serious trouble.

Meng Shu's intelligence work was indeed poor, but once Zhao Rongniang entered the palace and won favor, her family background would still be easy to ferret out.

At this moment, Han Baosheng produced a portrait. The woman in the painting wore a ruqun dress and held a ruyi scepter, standing within a pavilion, behind her lotus flowers blooming in profusion, each setting off the other's beauty — a case of lovely woman, lovely flowers.

Looking at that face, sixty or seventy percent similar to Han Qiniang's, and even forty or fifty percent similar to his mother's in her youth, Han Baozheng knew this was certainly Zhao Rongniang, no mistake.

With such looks, once she entered the palace, and with so simple a background, it would be impossible for her not to win favor.

At this thought, Han Baozheng flew into a rage. He drew the short blade at his waist and glared savagely at Han Baosheng.

"Why must you come and corrupt my loyal heart! I, Han Baozheng, have deeply received the late Emperor's favor. Without the late Emperor, you and I, brothers, would long ago have died in some ditch. How would we have today's wealth and rank?

Is Han Baozheng, a true man living in this world, one who would sell his country for glory?"

Han Baosheng was badly startled — this was the first time his elder brother had shown such a ferocious expression. But he did not panic; he simply ran straight behind a pillar and shouted.

"Sister-in-law, save me!"

A rush of footsteps sounded — Han Baozheng's wife suddenly appeared, bringing his three sons and three daughters with her.

His old wife wept ceaselessly, and being very clever, did not try to persuade Han Baozheng to change his allegiance, but simply wailed.

"If you wish to repay the late Emperor's trust and favor, then please kill the seven of us, mother and children, first — so that when the Zhou army enters the city, we will not suffer the pain of blade and axe upon our bodies."

Hearing their mother's loud weeping, the children, still too young to understand what was happening, began crying aloud as well.

Since ancient times, the hardest thing is death alone — but that is not absolute. For a Chinese person, what is harder still is for the whole family to die together.

Han Baozheng had the heart to die for his country, but he did not have the ruthlessness to take his whole family to death with him.

Han Baosheng, hiding behind a pillar at this moment, shouted loudly: "Seventh Sister went to Luzhou before the new year. Our Han clan still has kinsmen there. The eldest son of Third Grand-Uncle, guaranteed by his brother-in-law, has already become a Hundred-Li Marquis of the Sacred Zhou.

Our parents' graves and the ancestral shrine are all in Luzhou. If Elder Brother does not wish to go back and see our father and mother, I, Han Sanlang, still want to!"

Clang — the short knife in Han Baozheng's hand dropped to the ground. This battle-hardened warrior of rare valor collapsed onto the ground and wept bitterly.

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