Chapter 770: Let Yourself Live, and Let Others Live Too

In Hangzhou, within the outer city, at Hu Jinsi's residence, He Chengxun, his face bruised and swollen, was welcoming Zhang Chengfu together with Hu Jinsi, and Zhang Chengfu swaggered right into Hu Jinsi's mansion.

In ordinary times, for an envoy of the Central Plains to enter the residence of a powerful minister of a vassal state like this would likely have shaken the whole realm.

But this time, apart from Zhang Chengfu arranging for Zhao Jingangnu to lead one hundred imperial troops and Hanhai Garrison armored soldiers to stand guard outside, no excessive precautions were taken, nor did many people seem shocked.

Because this was the most delicate moment in the state of Wuyue: two men at the very highest positions needed the intervention of this external force, the imperial court, to loosen a noose that was being pulled ever tighter.

At this moment, Hu Jinsi, who had been advancing by retreating, had begun to feel like backing down. He was already advanced in years; if he kept this up, he would bring disaster down on his descendants.

At the same time, Qian Hongchu did not want to push Hu Jinsi too hard either, and had developed a desire for reconciliation.

Although Hu Jinsi had indeed killed Qian Zuo, to say something that ought not be said, Qian Zuo's indiscriminate killings, carried out with no regard for the actual situation within Wuyue and with crude methods, had essentially left the people below him no way to survive. That Hu Jinsi and the others killed him was not the least bit surprising.

To risk the slaughter of one's entire family for the sake of an elder brother who was not particularly close to him and was born of a different mother — let alone Qian Hongchu, even an ordinary person would not make such a choice.

And besides Qian Hongchu and Hu Jinsi being stuck riding the tiger, the next most affected was He Chengxun.

This man had originally been a yabing officer under Qian Hongzong, but before his position had even stabilized, Qian Hongzong sent him to kill Hu Jinsi. He Chengxun pleaded bitterly to no avail, and so, unwilling to throw his life away alongside Qian Hongzong, he simply went and informed Hu Jinsi of the plot.

Now He Chengxun, as Commander of the Inner Guard Troops and Horses, appeared to have the Great King Qian Hongchu in his grip, yet he did not dare do anything to Qian Hongchu at all — he even had to exhaust every effort to protect him.

Whether it was Qian Hongchu wanting to kill others, or those who urged Hu Jinsi to kill the Great King rising up to make trouble, he would be the first one to suffer.

Moreover, this man did not have much nerve. If he truly had nerve and great ambition, he would have conspired with Qian Hongzong long ago to kill Hu Jinsi, and then monopolized all power — how fine that would have been.

Zhang Chengfu was also quite interesting. After entering the room, he did not go to sit in the seat of honor that Hu Jinsi had arranged for him, but instead walked straight toward the lower seats, and as he walked, he pointed with his hand and made an introduction.

"This is the Ban Dingyuan of our age, Vice Minister of Rites of the Great Zhou, Marquis of Xiaoyuan, Wang Jiu."

Hu Jinsi was greatly startled. How could he not have heard of Wang Jiu's reputation? The matter of grabbing the sleeve of the Gaochang Uyghur Khagan and refusing to let go, wanting to use his own life to open a path for the army, was too far away for him to know clearly, but going alone to Jiangning City and cursing Li Jing to his face — that had made him famous throughout Jiangdong.

However, in this era there were no cameras or video recorders. Hu Jinsi had heard Wang Jiu's great name but did not know what he looked like, and Zhang Chengfu had not introduced him yesterday, so only now did he realize that this was Wang Jiu.

Hu Jinsi immediately clasped his hands and bowed. "So it is the world-renowned Marquis of Xiaoyuan before me. I have truly grown old and dim, failing to recognize a hero to his face."

Wang Jiu returned the salute, warmly took Hu Jinsi by the arm, and sat down together with him.

"I am merely one who prevails by wagging his tongue. How could I deserve the title of hero? The one with a sword at his side outside the door — that is the hero who swept across the northern desert and raised the altar at Langjuxu."

He Chengxun's cheek could not help but twitch. Although he too very much wanted to be lifted down from the tiger's back, he truly had not deliberately refrained from fighting back yesterday — he had genuinely wanted to resist, but simply could not win.

Hu Jinsi also fell silent for a moment. Although his family were local magnates of Yuezhou, in fact his father and grandfather had both served as officials in the imperial court, and the family home had been established in Chang'an. Only after Chang'an fell into ruin and the Great Tang was on the verge of extinction did they return to Yuezhou.

In Hu Jinsi's mind, he in fact often recalled the days of his childhood in Chang'an. He felt even more that Chang'an was his true homeland, and in his heart his identity leaned closer to that of a man of Guanzhong.

Therefore, he naturally understood better than people far away in the Two Zhes what it meant to control Hexi and Longyou and to sweep the great desert clean.

It meant that a mighty Han and a glorious Tang had returned once more, even if the path of its return was somewhat baffling.

After a moment of silence, Hu Jinsi gave two dry laughs. "Since ancient times, raising the altar at Langjuxu has never occurred except at the height of a dynasty's power. Today the Great Zhou has not yet unified the realm, yet already the barbarians of the four directions submit. Its spirit far surpasses the Han and Tang!"

Wang Jiu chuckled, released Hu Jinsi's hand, and then host and guest took their seats. "Elder Hu must be wondering: by normal reasoning, the Sage should first settle Jiangnan, unify the realm, rest and recuperate until the nation's strength recovers, and only then sweep the northern desert as the Han and Tang did."

Hu Jinsi nodded and answered without any concealment: "Jiangnan may not have a million soldiers, but it has a million in wealth and a million in grain. For the state to take this rich and fertile land and then settle the northern desert — would that not be the prudent course?"

Wang Jiu understood. This was still the bad example set by Li Cunxu of the Zhuang Temple!

That Sage Zhang had not settled Jiangnan but swept the northern desert — in the eyes of men like Hu Jinsi, far from the Central Plains, this represented not only supreme martial achievement but also a lack of solid footing.

They feared that Zhang Zhao would, like Li Cunxu of the Later Tang, streak across the sky like a meteor and then vanish without a trace.

Although by now Zhang Zhao had already displayed a spirit far surpassing Li Cunxu's, they were, after all, far away, and men like Hu Jinsi did not yet feel it clearly.

"Elder Hu speaks well! Jiangnan has a million in grain and a million in wealth, but where do this million in grain and wealth come from? Naturally, they are produced by the diligent labor of the eight million people of the Southern Tang and Wuyue in Jiangnan.

Since the great dynasty fell, Guanzhong has been ravaged, the Central Plains has known ceaseless war, and Hedong and Hebei have repeatedly suffered barbarian invasions. Only Jiangnan has remained like a peach-blossom paradise beyond the world.

This is the achievement of King Yang of Wu, of King Xu of Wu and Emperor Liezu of the Li family, father and son, and also of King Wusu and King Wenmu of Wuyue, father and son, and moreover the lifeblood of men like Elder Hu and Commander He.

This is the land of our people's cultural splendor and heavenly treasures, not some frontier wasteland worth not three coppers, yet it is as fragile as this prefecture's famous porcelain — one light drop and it shatters.

When I came south, Duke Yan of Jin and Duke Li of Wei both advised the Sage that to settle Jiangnan nothing else was needed: simply send a hundred thousand sailors from Jiangling and Yueyang, and two hundred thousand horse and foot soldiers from Xuchang and Huaiyin, and slaughter the people of Jiangnan until heads rolled. Within a year, the rebel ministers would surely be captured and victory achieved. Does Elder Hu know how the Sage answered?"

Hu Jinsi shook his head. "I am an old and decaying man. How could I know the Sage's mind?"

Wang Jiu laughed three times, looked at Hu Jinsi, and said: "The Sage has two famous sayings that I have always kept in my heart.

To give others a chance is also to give oneself a chance. Let yourself live, and let others live too.

So when Duke Yan of Jin and Duke Li of Wei proposed sending a great army to attack, the Sage quickly rejected it.

The Sage said: the people of Jiangnan and the Two Zhes have only with great difficulty found shelter in this chaotic age. If I now send a great army to kill their fathers and mothers, wives and children, that would be unrighteous.

Xu Wen, Li Bian, Qian Liu, and Qian Yuanguan are all meritorious subjects of our people. To enjoy sacrificial offerings and have their descendants blessed is the reward they have earned. If I now exterminate their clans and destroy their ancestral temples, that would be unjust.

The officials and people of Jiangnan and the Two Zhes have done no wrong to me. I cannot be so unrighteous and unjust."

After hearing this, Hu Jinsi and He Chengxun were both stunned. Not only had they never seen such benevolent conduct from Zhang Zhao — especially this attitude of letting oneself live and letting others live — Hu Jinsi had scarcely even heard of it.

He had never imagined that the Shaoming Son of Heaven, who was said to have risen from Hexi and was rumored by some to be a barbarian bandit falsely claiming descent from loyal subjects, could have such a benevolent side.

Even if it were false, even if it were an act — so what? When the ruler of a nation, a founding hero, speaks false words, in the end they will become truth.

Hu Jinsi even had the sensation of hearing things; he felt that Wang Jiu was not speaking of the Shaoming Son of Heaven, but of Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang.

Amid doubt and gratitude, Hu Jinsi prostrated himself on the ground and cried out mournfully: "The Sage is truly a benevolent ruler unmatched through the ages. I and the people of the Two Zhes have not a single thing to offer our sagely lord, yet the sagely lord shows such compassion — how could we not be moved to tears of gratitude?"

These words were half true and half false. Hu Jinsi had indeed been somewhat astonished by Zhang Zhao's words.

The honey tangerines of the Two Zhes were quite sweet. Although these were dried honey tangerines stored in an ice cellar, the flavor was still quite good, and Zhang Chengfu ate a whole large plate in one go. Only after he saw that the moment was about right did he speak to Hu Jinsi.

"The Sage is indeed a benevolent lord. In this rebellion that has implicated so many, the two uncles of Liu Chengyou and a large number of Hedong's old generals were caught up in it. Duke Zhao and Duke Tian both wished to kill Liu Chengxun to eliminate future trouble, yet the Sage still would not permit it.

Not to mention the rest — Ma Xiguang, Gao Baorong, Meng Chang, and even Shi Chonggui — every one of them is alive and well.

If even they can keep their lives, how much more so the whole of Qian's Yue?"

Hu Jinsi remained prostrated on the ground without rising, simply turned around and sat kneeling on the ground as he asked Zhang Chengfu.

"I previously committed a grave error and incurred the Sage's wrath. Now I wish to turn over a new leaf — is it still in time?"

The "incurring the Sage's wrath" Hu Jinsi spoke of referred to his killing of Qian Zuo and imprisonment of Qian Hongzong, which had enraged Zhang Zhao and caused him to send Pei Yuan to deliver a reprimand. And the so-called "turning over a new leaf" was in fact a bargaining demand.

Historically, when Qian's Yue offered up its territory, no conditions had been offered to the local faction of the Two Zhes, so that for a very long time the manpower of the Two Zhes could not be mobilized. Of course, at that time the focus of the chariot-god Second Brother Zhao was entirely on the north, and he had no time to manage the Two Zhes.

But for Zhang Zhao at this moment, things were different. Murong Xinzhang's punitive expedition against Wang's Goryeo was imminent, and Zhang Zhao urgently needed the Wuyue navy as support.

And to mention something rather amusing — it was also a situation Zhang Zhao only came to understand after arriving in this era.

That is to say, after the decline and fall of the Great Tang, those fellows on the peninsula still had a suzerain state, and the state that succeeded the Great Tang as their suzerain was none other than Wuyue.

Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje, and Wang Geon of Later Goguryeo, who had not yet supplanted Gung Ye, both once submitted to Wuyue as vassals. Gyeon Hwon even sent envoys to Wuyue and was enfeoffed by Qian Liu as Grand Master of Palace Leisure.

When Later Baekje and Later Goguryeo came into conflict, Qian Liu, in his capacity as suzerain, sent envoys to mediate, issuing edicts that addressed Gyeon Hwon and Wang Geon as "my ministers," thoroughly indulging in the airs of the Celestial Court.

This also proves one thing: Wuyue had the ability to send large ships directly to the southern part of the peninsula.

At the same time, Wuyue was also the only state among the present Central Plains kingdoms that still maintained relations with Japan of the Heian period.

By this time, Japan had long ceased sending envoys to the Tang, and had rather taken on the air of shutting its doors and amusing itself.

It was also the crucial period when they began to close their doors, localize the superficial scraps of culture they had learned from the Tang dynasty, and in the end produce a pile of things that were neither fish nor fowl.

If one wished to seize this final opportunity to conquer Japan, the only state that still retained the shipping capacity from Ningbo to Japan, had some knowledge of conditions within Japan, and could assemble a massive fleet, was Wuyue alone.

This was also the reason Zhang Zhao would not choose to use force against Wuyue; he wanted to gain control of Wuyue with the greatest speed and at the smallest cost.

Related