Chapter 685: Sage Zhang Is a Good Emperor

"Sage, if I may report: Shule City is truly not difficult to take, for since the Great Dynasty established the Shule Garrison, it has been abolished and re-established many times.

The reason is that the successive rise of the Western Turkic Khaganate and the Turgesh Khaganate meant the Great Dynasty could never fully control this place."

When Hu Guang heard that Zhang Zhao wanted him to serve as vanguard of the western campaign, he moved with astonishing speed — receiving the order that very morning, he personally led five hundred cavalry out by that afternoon.

The whole way, the horses rested but the men did not. From Luoyang, the Divine Capital, to the Chang'an Metropolitan Prefecture was a full seven hundred li, and Hu Guang covered the entire distance in five days.

He even had the energy to skip resting at the post station and come straight to audience with the Sage.

This genuinely filled Sage Zhang, whose physical condition had begun to decline, with envy.

Hu Guang had every reason to be this excited. Setting aside that warriors love nothing more than winning merit in battle, there was another extremely important reason: Hu Guang was a native son of Anxi!

Back then, the small Tatar tribe his Hu family belonged to had gone to Khotan as part of Cao Yuanxing's dowry escort, in the capacity of yueqi cavalry.

Hu Guang was born in Khotan and raised in Khotan, only following Zhang Zhao eastward at the age of fifteen. In Khotan he still had a whole group of companions he had grown up with since childhood.

One could say that for others, going on the western campaign was hard labor, but for Hu Guang, this was returning home in glory.

Zhang Zhao rose and poured Hu Guang a bowl of wine, then had Xiao Sagezhi quickly bring out a dozen or so large skewers of roasted mutton for Hu Guang.

Among Zhang Zhao's consorts, only a barbarian woman like Xiao Sagezhi enjoyed showing her face in public like this, because among the Khitan this was an utterly ordinary thing.

Hu Guang was not bashful either. Although Hu Guang now considered himself a Han man, a son of Tang, his family were in fact Tatars — the people history would later call the Tatars.

Moreover, he knew Zhang Zhao's ways well, so he did not fuss over such things.

After briefly saluting Xiao Sagezhi, who was heavy with child, Hu Guang put on a show of heroic vigor and began eating with gusto.

Gleaming mutton fat ran ceaselessly down his beard. His mouth barely opened, yet a whole skewer of meat vanished in an instant — and even so, he still managed to find the time to loudly exclaim in praise.

By the time Hu Guang had finished a full fifty skewers of mutton — probably seven or eight jin of mutton — and drunk one or two jin of sweet rice wine, I, Sage Zhang, who had been displaying a warrior's boldness alongside my great general, found the wine and meat already pressing up into my throat.

In the distance, Supervisor Dong watched Zhang Zhao with concern, afraid that I, Sage Zhang, would eat myself sick.

Only that silly woman Xiao Sagezhi was still squinting happily and loudly praising him from the side, even wanting to come over and urge more wine and meat on him.

In the eyes of the Khitan, one of the most important marks of a fine man is the ability to eat.

Eating a whole sheep in one meal makes a warrior; eating half an ox in one meal makes one practically a god descended to earth.

Fortunately, Hu Guang truly was full. He immediately let out a burp and said to Zhang Zhao, "Your servant has not tasted such delicious roast meat in a long time, and for a moment ate somewhat too much. It was truly a lapse in decorum, and I beg the Sage's forgiveness."

Zhang Zhao laughed heartily. "That rash young calf of years past has finally learned to read books and observe propriety.

What is there to forgive? In the old days in Anxi and Hezhong, did we not often drink and eat meat together like this, lord and vassal?"

At the mention of Anxi, anger immediately showed on Hu Guang's face. "That Li Guoshou was nothing more than a mangy, scab-ridden dog wagging its tail and begging for pity before the Sage. Now he dares to act like a mad dog barking at the sun. I swear to capture and kill this wretch for the Sage."

Zhang Zhao waved his hand. "Li Guoshou is an arrogant little man of no ability. We will not waste our anger on such a person.

What matters most on this campaign is recovering Suyab and Talas. Li Guoshou's life or death is secondary.

Just now you only began to speak. Now tell me further — why is Suyab not difficult to take?"

Hu Guang immediately sat up straight, then took out the map he carried with him and said to Zhang Zhao:

"Since the Great Dynasty's Commander Gao withdrew from the Four Garrisons of Anxi — and even before the withdrawal — Suyab has been caught in the struggle between the Turgesh and the various Turkic tribes. The city of Suyab built by the Great Dynasty in those years was already riddled with holes.

After that, it went through Pang Tegin's entry into Suyab, the Persian army's breaching of Suyab's walls, Satuq's siege of Suyab, and the Sage's great defeat of the Persian army at Suyab.

Over several decades it has suffered at least four large-scale breaches. Although Suyab has been relocated and rebuilt several times since, whether the new city or the old, it remains severely damaged.

Afterward, although the Sage established a Governor of Suyab to pacify the region, once the eminent Guo Xuanqing took power he did not dare oppose the Sage, so he only built passes at the old city of the Bao Da Army west of Suyab to guard against Li Guoshou at Talas.

Suyab itself and He Lie City were not reinforced, and cannot possibly withstand an assault by a large army.

Moreover, the Sage's renown among the various peoples of Suyab is not so easily erased.

Your servant believes that the reason the peoples of Suyab dared to follow Guo Guangyi and Li Guoshou in rebellion is simply that they thought Suyab lay ten thousand li from the Central Kingdom, and that the Sage would not trouble himself to send an expedition so far for this matter.

In their hearts, they have no particularly firm will to resist.

That is why your servant says Suyab is not difficult to break. A mere thousand or so elite armored soldiers, arriving beneath the walls, and the barbarians and Han within will lose their nerve at the sight — perhaps there will be no need to storm the city at all."

Zhang Zhao nodded. Judging from the reports he had received, Hu Guang's assessment was very reasonable.

But after all, seeing is believing. Zhang Zhao did not express particular approval, and he knew Hu Guang surely had not finished, so he waved a hand, signaling Hu Guang to continue.

Sure enough, Hu Guang pointed to a section of the map marked with the symbol for high mountains and said, "The greatest difficulty in attacking Suyab is still crossing the endless Tianshan range and the surging Naryn River.

These two natural barriers, even if left unguarded by troops, are enough to make one recoil at the mere thought of supplying several thousand armored soldiers and tens of thousands of laborers."

"Then what do you plan to do?" Zhang Zhao asked calmly.

"Your servant plans to go to Shule first, gather detailed intelligence, and then make a judgment.

If everything matches our previous assessment, your servant plans to have the Khotan troops lead the main force in the rear, while I, together with Chen Tingxiao, personally lead a thousand armored soldiers in a surprise assault on Suyab."

Mm! Zhang Zhao indicated that this flavor was very correct — this was exactly the tactic the famous generals of Han and Tang loved best.

And Hu Guang's chances of success should be quite high. Zhang Zhao refused to believe otherwise — the Guo family alone had more than five thousand people left in Suyab, and after more than a decade of growth, they must now number at least twenty or thirty thousand.

Zhang Zhao did not believe that every one of them was the likes of Guo Guangyi.

"This plan of winning by surprise, We approve. But you must pay close attention to the accuracy of your intelligence.

Also, take the brothers Guo Guangcheng and Guo Guangsheng with you. The two of them have been pleading bitterly outside the palace gate for a whole day, afraid that in Our anger We would never let the Suyab Guo family rise again."

Hu Guang chuckled at this, and only after a long moment said somewhat sheepishly to Zhang Zhao, "When your servant came to Chang'an Prefecture, Commissioner of Military Affairs Guo also made a point of inviting your servant to a gathering at the Guiyi Tower, and even gave a lavish gift of three hundred strings of cash. Everything he said, in one way or another, urged your servant to make winning hearts the highest priority."

Zhang Zhao looked at Hu Guang, caught between laughter and tears. "Guo Tiance has been cautious and timid his whole life. For someone else, giving three hundred strings would be a drop in the ocean. For Guo Tiance to give three hundred strings, his household probably won't taste meat for months.

Very well. When you go to Suyab, apart from the chief culprit Guo Guangyi and his followers, hand over the other guilty members of the Guo family to the Great King of Jin to judge leniently."

Having said this, Zhang Zhao turned to look at Supervisor Dong and said, "Take five hundred strings from Our privy purse and give them to Guo Tiance. Tell him it is Our reward to him."

Zhang Zhou's salary was actually not low — a full three hundred strings, considerably higher than the two hundred strings of the Later Liang and the one hundred eighty strings of the Later Tang periods.

And even the Later Tang's one hundred eighty strings was enough for a family to live in relative luxury.

Unfortunately, Guo Tiance not only had to use these three hundred strings to maintain the dignity of a Commissioner of Military Affairs, but also had to support other members of the Guo family living in the Southern Tang and around Chang'an, so his circumstances were truly somewhat tight.

For anyone else who reached the position of Commissioner of Military Affairs, casually scraping a little would bring in eight hundred or a thousand strings a year — and that would still count as relatively incorruptible.

But Guo Tiance resolutely refrained from taking so much as a single coin improperly. He was a model figure among the officials of this age.

After thinking it over, Zhang Zhao felt it was still not quite appropriate. Giving five hundred strings outright would probably be hard for Guo Tiance to accept with good grace.

After all, he had rendered no particular service, and the Guo family of Suyab had produced such a major problem — there was no reason at all to reward him.

So Zhang Zhao called out to the departing Junior Director Dong: "Don't give the five hundred strings as brocade or silver ingots or the like — convert it directly into large coins, coarse hemp cloth, fine cotton cloth, mutton, and grain, and distribute it as rewards over five months."

Ah, an emperor as meticulous as him — there can't have been many from ancient times to now! Sage Zhang indulged in a small moment of pride.

After hearing Hu Guang's report on the plan to seize Suyab, Zhang Zhao made a few small adjustments to the western expedition plan.

The entire Guo family of Suyab and the Li family of Talas, plus all the tribes following them around Suyab, amounted to only about four hundred thousand people in total — even with universal conscription, they could field at most a hundred and some tens of thousands.

Of those, only twenty or thirty thousand could be counted as elite troops; the truly armored elite numbered no more than ten thousand at most, and iron-armored soldiers probably only one or two thousand.

Such national strength looks weak, but after the fall of the Turks and the decline of Persia, it really did count as a considerable power — at the very least, if they steeled themselves, they could send out tens of thousands of men.

But to the Central Plains court, this force was far too weak. Even to Li Shengtian's Great Jin Kingdom, which had not yet fully submitted to the court, it was hardly a threatening presence.

Therefore, if the situation at Suyab was truly as Hu Guang predicted, Zhang Zhao believed his plan to raid Suyab should be a great success.

But there was one variable: the person who could bring Guo Guangyi and Li Guoshou together, the one hiding behind this affair — who exactly was he?

Zhang Zhao closed his eyes and recalled: historically, the Samanid Persians began their steep decline by the end of Nasr II's reign, so it seemed there was no possibility of a great ruler emerging from them.

Then... the greatest possibility was still that Saktu, who was seven or eight years younger than Li Shengtian.

Historically, this fellow was the true founding great ruler of the Kara-Khanid Khanate. In terms of the Central Plains dynasties, he was at least a figure like Emperor Guangwu of Han or the Yongle Emperor of Ming.

Of course, that was only a similarity in historical stature — Saktu's personal ability was still far below those two great men.

It was just that in the current Anxi, where the Great Tang, the Turks, the Arabs, and the Tibetans had all declined and were pecking at each other like weak chickens, Saktu really did count as quite capable.

If this fellow was involved, Zhang Zhao estimated that Hu Guang had the ability to take Suyab and hold it, but continuing further west to Talas — where even Zhang Zhao himself had never personally gone — would probably still be somewhat problematic.

He thought it over, then calculated: once Hu Guang set out, and Li Shengtian and Chen Tingxiao finished drawing troops from Anxi and Beiting respectively, it would be at least the end of this year.

After that, another two or three months of joint training, and then Hu Guang crossing the snowy mountains for a surprise attack — the earliest would be July or August of next year.

With more than a year remaining, Zhang Zhao could take the opportunity to gather in the twelve myriarch households on the steppe and get a firm grip on them.

In that case, it would be better to simply have Hu Guang hold the area around Suyab and stand off against the forces of Talas. By then, whoever was causing trouble behind the scenes would become very clear.

Once everything was clear, Bai Congxin's surprise force could simply imitate the Mongols: cross the Altai Mountains directly, travel through the Land of Seven Rivers (the Ili Valley), pass by Lake Balkhash, and circle around behind Talas for a pincer attack from front and rear, completely finishing off that annoying rat Saktu.

In the third year of Shaoming, on the twelfth day of the seventh month, when Hu Guang had already selected the thousand elite troops for the western expedition, and Yao Yuanfu had finished recruiting two thousand mixed Han and barbarian light cavalry in Shuofang, the Lord of Shu, Meng Chang, finally arrived at the Chang'an prefectural seat of Jingzhao.

Zhang Zhao received this lord of Shu — who was fairly well-known even in later ages — beneath the Vermilion Bird Gate.

As a result, I, Sage Zhang, was very displeased to discover that his ranking in looks had dropped another place.

Although he had suffered the pain of losing his kingdom and endured a bumpy journey, it had actually made the somewhat plump Meng Chang grow leaner.

Originally, Meng Chang's appearance and bearing had been rather like Jia Baoyu's — quite round and soft — but after experiencing a bit of wind and rain, it had unexpectedly added a few traces of captivating world-weariness.

A bit like Leslie Cheung after shedding his boyishness.

Judging by face alone, Meng Chang was roughly on par with the famously handsome and dashing Pan Mei of history, and with Zhang Zhao's own sword-browed, star-eyed fine son Murong Xinzhang.

What a waste of such a fine face! Zhang Zhao suddenly discovered that, looking at such a face, even though you knew he was an embroidered pillow, you simply couldn't bring yourself to dislike him.

However, Sage Zhang's gaze immediately put Meng Chang, his mother Lady Li, and Li Kerang's daughter Princess Fuxing on alert.

I, the Lord of Meng, felt a chill run across my rear end. Could this Sage Zhang have some special proclivities?

This instantly scared Meng Chang — who had been preparing to display the bearing of a lord of a kingdom — out of his wits, and he looked desperately at his mother, Lady Li.

Losing the kingdom was one thing, but he couldn't lose his back door too!

When the time came to meet Lady Fei on the dragon bed of Weiyang Palace, how could he go on living?

He did not want to become Phoenix Boy Murong Chong!

Lady Li was also frightened out of her wits and at a loss, but Princess Fuxing beside her was quick-witted. She quietly reached out from behind and fiercely pinched the thigh of Meng Yiyue next to her.

Princess Fuxing was the niece of Li Keyong; in her youth she could even ride a horse and wield a lance, so her grip strength was absolutely not small. This pinch was extremely forceful and immediately made Meng Yiyue beside her cry out in pain.

Meng Yiyue — hmm, he was also a "young lord"! In Shu he had been famous for his love of fine food, singing girls, and dancing women, and was well-versed in the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

But he had no depth and no cunning. Otherwise, with his status as Li Keyong's own maternal grandson, and with his birth mother Princess Qionghua still alive at the time, how would the throne have been taken by his younger brother Meng Chang?

So this playboy, who had hardly experienced anything since childhood, had been trembling with fear one second, and the next second forgot everything and cried out.

At such an occasion, a scream like that was as conspicuous as could be, and it immediately drew Zhang Zhao's attention.

Before Zhang Zhao could say anything, Junior Director Dong before him flew into a rage. Pointing his finger at the kneeling Meng Shu imperial clansmen, he bellowed: "Who dares cry out? Who dares breach decorum before the throne?"

Meng Yiyue was scared witless. He looked dazedly at Princess Fuxing, then glanced at Zhang Zhao, whose face revealed neither joy nor anger, and immediately began trembling all over with terror.

"The Sage, forgive us! The one who cried out is Meng Yiyue, son of Princess Qionghua — eldest daughter of the Martial Emperor of the fallen dynasty and full sister of the founder of the Zhuang Temple. He has offended Your Majesty — a capital offense! A capital offense!"

Meng Yiyue was dumbly plucked out from the crowd by Man Xiong himself, already so terrified he was nearly collapsing. The one speaking was Princess Fuxing.

She had a reason for daring to pinch Meng Yiyue and then step forward to announce their identities like this.

Because in recent days, Princess Fuxing had already made contact with her own younger brother Li Cungui and learned that Zhang Zhao treated the martial men of Hedong and Daibei generously, often honoring their uncle Li Keyong as a loyal minister of the great dynasty — which was why she dared to take this risk.

The amount of information was considerable. Zhang Zhao's mind turned for a moment before he understood that the person before him should be the son of Meng Zhixiang and Princess Qionghua, the maternal grandson of Prince of Jin Li Keyong, and also Li Keyong's only surviving bloodline.

Once he had sorted out the relationships, Zhang Zhao's expression relaxed, then suddenly flared with anger. He had Man Xiong haul Meng Yiyue up before him, then roared.

"Get up! Your grandfather the Prince of Jin was what a hero — how can his descendant be so cowardly? Are you a man or not?"

Meng Yiyue was suddenly bewildered. In a daze, he almost thought the person standing before him was not Zhang Zhao but his father Meng Zhixiang, because Meng Zhixiang had always loved scolding him like this in the past.

In his dazed state, two streams of tears burst from Meng Yiyue's eyes, and in a flash of inspiration he blurted out: "Your child knows his error — please, Father, calm your anger!"

The air seemed to freeze for several seconds. Everyone stared dumbly at Meng Yiyue; even Man Xiong, who was holding him, was stunned.

"Hahahaha!" Even though Zhang Zhao had deliberately kept a stern face, he was still so exasperated that he burst out laughing.

When those around saw the Emperor laugh, they all roared with laughter. Man Xiong disdainfully tossed Meng Yiyue to the ground.

"Coward! You think you can call the Sage 'Father'?"

Meng Yiyue seemed to come to his senses only then. He hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "When my father was alive, he often used such words to instruct me. I mistook the person just now — a capital offense! A capital offense!"

This unexpectedly effective line made me, Sage Zhang, laugh until I could barely breathe. Then he quickly had someone help Meng Yiyue up. "Get up. Don't disgrace the Prince of Jin."

Then Zhang Zhao asked: "Meng Zhixiang had dozens of sons and grandsons, yet the Prince of Jin, such a loyal minister of the great dynasty, has no bloodline left. Meng Yiyue, would you be willing to take the surname Li, so that the Prince of Jin may receive offerings?"

Meng Yiyue froze for a few seconds. His earlier half-feigned foolishness had been a flash of inspiration, but now, in this situation, he could not quite tell whether this was good or bad.

The matter was urgent, so Princess Fuxing hurried forward on her knees, pressed down on Meng Yiye's head to make him kowtow repeatedly, and even spoke on his behalf, saying, "I thank the Sage for his great kindness."

Zhang Zhao looked at the white-haired old woman before him, who was straining every nerve to preserve the Meng clan, and suddenly recalled how, when Zhang Chengfeng's Jinshan Kingdom had collapsed in years past, his legal mother, the Compassionate Blessing Empress Dowager, must have been like this too — only thus had she managed to save him.

"Who are you?" Zhang Zhao's voice softened considerably.

Princess Fuxing looked at Zhang Zhao with pleading, brightening eyes. "Prince Li of Jin is my uncle. My father was Li Kerang, and Li Cungui, Prefect of Daizhou, is my full younger brother."

Zhang Zhao let out a long sigh and personally helped Princess Fuxing to her feet as well. "So you too are descended from a loyal minister.

In years past, Lord Li Kerang was driven out by Wang Zhongsu and nearly lost his life, yet when Huang Chao came to attack, he still served loyally in defending Tong Pass — truly commendable. Since you are of loyal and righteous descent, rise!"

Historically, Li Kerang had long served as a palace guard, and later, because of the rebellion of his father Li Guochang and elder brother Li Keyong, he nearly was executed by the Tang court.

A little over a year later he returned to the court, and the Tang court assigned him to garrison Tong Pass. Then Huang Chao came to attack, and Li Kerang fought hard but could not prevail, fled to Mount Zhongnan, and was killed by monks. He could be counted a loyal minister.

After Zhang Zhao helped her up, Princess Fuxing could not help but burst into loud weeping on the spot, for she knew that since Zhang Zhao had spoken thus, her brother-in-law and lover Meng Zhixiang's descendants were now saved.

Sure enough, after pondering a moment, Zhang Zhao bestowed on Meng Yiye the name Li Congye, counting him as a grandson of Li Keyong.

He abolished the humiliating title of Marquis Who Defied His Fate originally given to Meng Chang, changed his enfeoffment to Marquis of Longgang, and ordered that more than a hundred rooms be built in the divine capital Luoyang to serve as Meng Chang's residence.

At this point, Meng Chang had finally managed to keep his life.

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