Chapter 768: A Miniature Late-Tang Qian Family Wuyue Kingdom

In Wuyue, Yuezhou — the later Shaoxing — was called the Eastern Prefecture, and together with the Western Prefecture of Hangzhou formed one of the two political centers of the Wuyue Kingdom.

In the early days when Qian Liu founded the state, he had risen to power on the strength of the Eight Capital Troops of Hangzhou.

And the reason Qian Liu could gain a firm foothold in the Two Zhes was that after he subdued his sworn brother Dong Chang — who had yielded Hangzhou to Qian Liu and gone off to entrench himself in Yuezhou —

Before Dong Chang was destroyed, powerful local families of Yuezhou such as Hu Jinsi had already admired Qian Liu's reputation and vied to pledge allegiance to him.

Therefore, after he took control of the Two Zhes and formed his separatist regime, the pillar forces under Qian Liu changed from the single Hangzhou Eight Capitals into a model of Hangzhou (Western Prefecture) meritorious ministers plus Yuezhou (Eastern Prefecture) local strongmen.

Beyond these, Qian Liu also accepted the surrender of part of Sun Ru's man-eating Cai rebels and formed them into the Wuyong Capital, serving as the inner yabing guards personal followers controlled by the Qian family itself.

This was the basic structure of power within the Wuyue Kingdom.

Yet although this tripod looked very stable, in fact by Qian Liu's later years the system was becoming impossible to sustain.

Because the reason the Cai rebels could rampage across the south with unmatched ferocity was the presence of Qin Zongquan and Sun Ru.

Those two bastards were brutal, and utterly inhuman, but their ability to lead troops and train troops was genuinely no joke.

So much so that the Cai rebels not only gave the Tang court and the Later Liang endless headaches — among the three southern states of Tang, (Wu)yue, and Chu,

Wuyue's Wuyong troops were all surrendered Cai rebels, Wu-Tang's Black Cloud Longsword Capital was also surrendered Cai rebels, and Chu's Ma Yin was simply a fierce general from among the Cai rebels.

In Wuyue's early period, the Wuyong Capital, born from the Cai rebels, was brave and battle-hardened, keeping the Hangzhou Eight Capitals and the Yuezhou strongmen from raising their heads.

Although they had once rebelled and nearly killed Qian Liu, in the end Qian Liu relied on the Wuyong Capital to control the situation.

But after ten or twenty years, the Wuyong Capital yabing guards who had earlier surrendered to Qian Liu gradually aged, and the next generation grew up in the rich and peaceful Jiangnan water country — how could they preserve the savagery of their fathers, who had even dared to eat people?

In Qian Liu's later years, the Wuyong Capital rapidly degenerated, either transforming into local strongmen or losing the ability to suppress the local strongmen.

Thus by the time of Qian Yuanguan, the Qian family had no choice but to compromise with the Hangzhou Eight Capitals meritorious ministers and the Yuezhou strongmen.

Although the Qian family lost part of its power, the Wuyue Kingdom gained rare peace and became a refuge, a peach-blossom spring, amid the chaos.

The common people of the Two Zhes all benefited from the benevolence of Qian Liu and his son Qian Yuanguan, and in the midst of chaos enjoyed the good days that only a golden age of peace could bring.

But by the time of Qian Zuo, this young Great King who had ascended the throne in his teens was not content, like his father, to give up power in exchange for stability. He was single-mindedly determined to seize power back — and then he got himself killed.

The representative figure of the Hangzhou meritorious ministers and Yuezhou strongmen at court, Grand General Hu Jinsi, who entered the palace wearing sword and shoes, personally directed the yabing guards to hack Qian Zuo to death with random blades in the royal palace.

Afterward he installed Qian Zuo's younger brother Qian Hongzong on the throne, but unexpectedly Qian Hongzong was also dissatisfied with power being entirely in the hands of powerful ministers, hated Hu Jinsi and the others who had killed his elder brother even more deeply, and secretly planned to deal with them.

So Hu Jinsi conspired with the others again, and at night led three hundred armored soldiers to seize Qian Hongzong.

But this time Hu Jinsi was somewhat afraid. Killing two Great Kings within a single year was, for anyone, a feat requiring an extraordinarily strong heart.

So Hu Jinsi could only imprison Qian Hongzong, hoping to assassinate him once he no longer attracted attention.

And the now-reigning Qian Hongchu was far cleverer than his two elder brothers, and so for the time being reached a delicate balance with Hu Jinsi and the other powerful ministers.

Among all the rulers of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Qian family's Wuyue Kingdom was the most peaceful and prosperous of all the realm's states — a peach-blossom spring amid the chaos.

But from the ruler's perspective, apart from Qian Liu, the power held by the Qian family's Great Kings was also the smallest in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms — at times so tightly constrained by their ministers that they could not move.

This was also the key reason Zhang Zhao said the Qian family's Wuyue Kingdom was a miniature late Tang.

The Wuyong Capital was like the Shence Army — at first it could still be of some use, but in the end it could not even defeat the rural prefecture and county troops.

The Hangzhou meritorious ministers and Yuezhou strongmen were like the Great Tang's eunuchs and military provinces — no matter which of them held power or fell from it, the ruler could only govern by relying on them.

In Yuezhou, east of the city, there stood a fortress-like villa estate — this was the manor of the Hu clan, a super-prominent family from Huzhou.

The Hu family's ancestral temple was also within this estate. Eastward from the Hu family villa, the fertile fields stretching for dozens of li were all Hu family property.

And the head of the Hu family was the Five Dynasties' invincible living marvel, Hu Jinsi, now ninety-two years old.

Historically, this man lived to ninety-eight, and even then did not die a natural death: after hearing that Qian Hongchu intended to help the Later Zhou attack the Southern Tang, he personally led armored soldiers intending to rush to Hangzhou to save the situation, but in the end could not overcome the tide of events, and died of rage when boils broke out on his back.

You have to admit it — most people who can avoid incontinence at ninety-eight are already considered remarkable, but this man fought wars his whole life and at ninety-eight was still leading troops in an attempt to salvage the situation. If he had been allowed to live well, he probably could have lived to a hundred and ten or twenty.

How terrifying is that age? Put it this way: the year he was born was during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.

That year, the famous great poet Li Shangyin had just died of illness; Zhang Zhao's great-grandfather Zhang Yichao had just taken Lanzhou, forming a three-sided encirclement of Liangzhou; Li Keyong had just been weaned; Zhu Wen's father had not yet died of illness; and Huang Chao was still racking his damn brains trying to pass the imperial examinations.

This living marvel was only two years younger than Li Keyong and six years younger than Zhu Wen. When Zhang Zhao's great-grandfather served as Grand General of the Left Jinwu Guard in Chang'an, Hu Jinsi, through hereditary privilege, had nominally served as a colonel under Zhang Yichao.

Moreover, within the Wuyue Kingdom, Hu Jinsi had an advantage no one else could match.

That is, although he came from a powerful Yuezhou family, he had followed Qian Liu in his early years and was one of the founders of the Hangzhou Eight Capitals — so he was both a Western Prefecture meritorious minister and an Eastern Prefecture strongman.

With this ability to have it both ways, after all his contemporaries had passed away, Hu Jinsi became the undisputed local tyrant of the Wuyue Kingdom.

Yet even a local tyrant had a local tyrant's worries: he was extremely old, none of his sons amounted to anything, and he deeply feared that after his death his descendants would die without a burial place.

Therefore, even though Qian Hongchu was clearly smiling on the surface while cursing him inwardly, Hu Jinsi had no choice but to play along with Qian Hongchu's act.

He had already killed one Great King and deposed another — he truly did not dare do anything more to Qian Hongchu.

So Hu Jinsi turned his gaze to the northwest. The only one who could now get him out of this trap and let him climb down from the tiger's back was the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains — the Sage of the Great Zhou had that ability.

"He's back, he's back! Old Master, Zhao'er is back!" At the gate of the Hu family villa, a plump man came scrambling and tumbling in, shouting loudly. This man was none other than Hu Jinsi's eldest son, Hu Jing.

At Hu Jing's shout, everyone in the Hu family villa turned to look at Hu Jinsi, seated upright in the courtyard. Today it was not only the Hu family present — people from the other powerful families of Yuezhou were there as well.

Hu Jinsi slowly opened his eyes and looked at a man beside him who was bent over, seeming to fawn on everyone he looked at.

This was his fourth son, Hu Sheng. Because his mother was a maidservant, he had held a very low position in the Hu family from birth, and almost no one paid him any attention.

One must understand that Hu Jinsi had twenty-seven sons alone — how could he make every one of them a privileged official's son? Nor did he have that much spare attention to divide his fatherly love equally among every child.

People all have their favorites, and Hu Sheng belonged to the category of sons Hu Jinsi did not favor.

But at this moment, after a long sigh, Hu Jinsi looked kindly at Hu Sheng and said, "Zhao'er is brave and well-versed in the classics. To have won the favor of the Sage of the great court, Fourth Son, you have done well in raising him."

With that, Hu Jinsi took the hand of this son he ordinarily paid little attention to. "Come, father and son, let us go greet him personally!"

Hu Sheng, who had been meek and submissive his whole life, had never received such attention from his father. Trembling, he supported his father's arm and walked out with him.

At the east gate of Yuezhou, the Hu family villa was also nearby, which was why Hu Zhao chose to enter Yuezhou city from here.

And long before he reached the east city, his brothers of the same generation and those from other families who were friendly with him had already come out to welcome him.

As one of only two Wuyue inner yabing soldiers who had followed Chen Huzi through the entire Mobei campaign, Hu Zhao's return home naturally caused a sensation.

Setting aside military merit, the feat of "sealing the altar at Langjuxu" alone was enough to bring Hu Zhao immense glory within the family — enough to write a weighty entry in the clan genealogy.

What was more, his merits were not small, and Zhang Zhao had every intention of using Yuezhou's Hu Zhao and Huzhou's Wang Sheng to win the hearts of the Wuyue Kingdom — so naturally the reception had to be made even more grand.

The east gate was in sight, and the crowd was thick with people. From far off, Hu Zhao spotted his grandfather Hu Jinsi, accompanied on the return journey by a palace eunuch and two minor clerks from the Ministry of Rites.

Hu Zhao bowed to the three of them. "Honored envoys, my grandfather has come out of the city to receive you in person. I beg your pardon for going on ahead."

The eunuch was about to reply when he saw dust rise across the way. Hu Jinsi, ninety-one years old, was actually striding over toward them with great steps.

At the sight, Hu Zhao hastily prostrated himself in the dust. "Your unfilial grandson Zhao kowtows to Grandfather, and pays respects to you, my lord!"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Hu Jinsi laughed heartily, and in a few flying strides he was before Hu Zhao, raising him to his feet.

"Since ancient times, when loyalty and filial piety cannot both be fulfilled, one should first choose to serve the state with all loyalty. Shilang followed the Sage on his expedition far into the northern desert—that is loyalty to the affairs of state. How can it be called unfilial? Up with you, quickly, and let your grandfather have a good look at you."

A brilliant smile spread over Hu Zhao's face. In the past, his grandfather would never have held him in such regard. This was all earned through the Sage's favor and his own desperate fighting!

"May I ask the honored envoy: was my grandson brave in battle?" Hu Jinsi clasped his hands and addressed the eunuch.

The eunuch produced an imperial decree and said to Hu Jinsi with a smile: "By the Chancellery, by the Sage's decree: Hu Zhao, squad leader of the Eighth Squad of the Wuyue Inner Guard, in seventeen engagements great and small, did not flinch from arrows and stones, broke the enemy's formations, captured alive one young prince of the Dilie tribe and three Meilu, took twenty-seven heads, and further won distinction as first to scale the walls and first to seize a banner.

Now, in recognition of his merits, he is granted the forty-first rank, Martial Righteousness Gentleman of the seventh grade, junior; bestowed fifty bolts of brocade, two million cash, and the title of Meritorious Minister Who Upholds Martial Glory and Restoration; and ordered that the King of Yue, personal name Hongchu, promote and employ him in important posts."

After finishing, the eunuch looked around. "Which one is Hu Sheng, Hu Silang? Is the lady of the Hu-Chen family present?"

The obsequious Hu Sheng, dragging the trembling lady of the Hu-Chen family, appeared before the eunuch. The eunuch said to the two of them with a smile:

"When the Martial Righteousness Gentleman formerly accompanied the imperial carriage, he wished to use his battle merits to win honors for his parents.

The Sage, moved by his pure filial piety, specially grants Hu Sheng the rank of Court Service Gentleman of the eighth grade, senior, and confers upon him the post of County Magistrate of Kuaiji. The lady of the Hu-Chen family is invested as Lady of Suitability."

No sooner had the eunuch finished speaking than the crowd outside the east gate burst into a collective gasp of astonishment.

Court Service Gentleman was a civil honorary title, carrying no salary and still less any actual authority, while the conferral of County Magistrate of Kuaiji meant only that after death, the office could be carved on his tombstone.

Though it seemed to bring little benefit, this was an imperial grant from the court!

Even within the state of Wuyue, few could obtain such a thing. Hu Jinsi himself, on the surface, was no more than a Militia Commissioner of Yuezhou.

For Wuyue, which had always styled itself a loyal vassal of the court and on the surface had not even opened a hegemonic administration, court offices were not to be compared with internal posts. Even the Great King had to beg for titles, let alone anyone else.

For a time, those filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment were beyond counting. Even Hu Jinsi looked at Sage Zhang with new respect. This was truly an emperor who knew how to work on men's hearts!

Hu Zhao stepped closer, took Hu Jinsi's hand, and said: "The Sage has already sent an elder of the imperial clan, the Duke of Nanyang Commandery, to the Western Prefecture to invest the Great King. The Duke asked your grandson to request that Grandfather come to the Western Prefecture."

Hu Jinsi's grizzled eyebrows twitched. It seemed the court was about to make a major move regarding the state of Wuyue.

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