Chapter 771

Generally speaking, for a man like Hu Jinsi, who had killed a ruler and imprisoned a ruler, obtaining a guarantee that would set his mind at ease was no easy matter.

Because the offense he had committed was truly beyond the pale — so much so that if Zhang Zhao first won him over with amnesty, then cut him down on the pretext of disloyalty, not many people would find it unjust.

This was also why Hu Jinsi, after all his performance — kowtowing, tears streaming down, looking deeply moved — still refused to lay his cards on the table.

But with Zhang Zhao, Hu Jinsi's extraordinary longevity gave him a perfect opportunity, and a perfect pretext that Zhang Zhao could exploit.

That was the biography of Zhang Yichao down to Zhang Chengfeng, currently being compiled for the Guiyi Army, in which the section on Zhang Yichao was severely incomplete.

The early deeds — including how in his youth he discoursed on war and swordplay in Dunhuang, studied the military classics, judged that the Tibetans' fortunes were exhausted, and thus swore his heart to returning to the nation, his resolve unwavering — were all quite clear.

After all, only about a hundred years had passed, and the Longshe Zhang family of Shazhou still had many members living.

But from Zhang Yichao's entry into Chang'an in the eighth year of Xiantong, 867 CE, to his death there from illness in the thirteenth year of Xiantong, 872 CE, the deeds of those five-plus years had largely become a mystery.

All that remained from that period were some memorials Zhang Yichao had submitted to the court; the rest of his deeds were utterly submerged. Even after his wife, Lady Song, passed away, did Zhang Yichao ever raise Lady Chen, who was effectively a concubine, to the position of wife?

A few years later, why did none of his other children remain on record except Zhang Zhao's grandfather Zhang Huaiding and grand-uncle Zhang Huaiquan, who returned to Shazhou — where did the rest of the offspring go? All of this had completely lost its documentation.

The first question in particular carried far greater weight, because Zhang Zhao's grandfather Zhang Huaiding was born only after Zhang Yichao arrived in Chang'an.

At that time Lady Song was already on the verge of death from illness, so she naturally could not have been Zhang Huaiding's birth mother. Zhang Huaiding's birth mother was Lady Chen.

Yet whether Zhang Yichao, in the final years of his life after Lady Song's death from illness, had raised Lady Chen to the position of wife — this was a matter of enormous consequence for Zhang Huaiding's entire line.

But Zhang Huaiding had died in his early twenties, leaving only one son, Zhang Chengfeng, who was just a few years old at the time; and Zhang Chengfeng had also died at twenty-two or twenty-three, leaving behind only Zhang Zhao, then one or two years old.

In other words, whether Zhang Huaiding's claim that Lady Chen had been raised to wife was true — and indeed whether he had ever even said it — was something that neither Zhang Chengfeng nor Zhang Zhao, two whole generations, could possibly corroborate.

This was no small matter. It bore directly on the crucial question of whether this line of mine, the line of the Son of Heaven who continues the mandate, was descended from the principal wife's legitimate son, or from a concubine's child.

Zhang Zhao could of course have the records state that Lady Chen was raised to wife, but he himself had launched a movement to restore the power of the official historians. For the sovereign of a nation to openly violate the rules he himself had laid down would be far too unsightly.

But if a man who had seen Zhang Yichao, and had served as a colonel under Zhang Yichao's command, now came forward and said that Zhang Yichao had indeed raised Lady Chen to wife, then the matter could be settled once and for all.

When Hu Jinsi heard Zhang Chengfu reveal this topic, the ninety-two-year-old man kowtowed with his face glowing red, nearly leaping to his feet. He finally understood — understood why he could be allowed to live.

Because his age of ninety-two years made him a living history book!

He could corroborate that Lady Chen had been raised to wife, and at the same time, if anything happened to him, people would certainly think the Emperor was covering something up.

Although — Hu Jinsi racked his memory hard — never mind whether Lady Chen had been raised to wife, he could not even recall how many wives and concubines Zhang Yichao had had.

That was only natural. When Zhang Yichao died, Hu Jinsi was no more than fifteen. The Imperial Insignia Guard in the late Tang was nothing but a basket for stuffing sinecure-rank officials; Zhang Yichao did not need to report for duty, and Hu Jinsi did not need to stand guard either.

He had indeed seen Zhang Yichao, but they had never even exchanged a word — how could he have known such details?

But if he insisted that Lady Chen had been raised to wife, and that he had even attended the banquet, no one could refute him, because on this entire continent there existed no person older than Hu Jinsi.

In the later Republican era, ninety-two was already an age one could not demand of anyone, let alone in this chaotic age of low medical standards and rival states standing thick as trees.

This Hu Jinsi, only two years younger than Li Keyong and six years younger than Zhu Wen, was a living fossil.

"Right! This old man remembers now. I was exactly thirteen then, and went with my father to attend a banquet at the Duke of Kaiguo's mansion in the old Anyi Ward, which sat beside the Zhang residence of the Three Halberds. Emperor Huanzu Ding even brought out fine Jiuquan wine from Suzhou to entertain the guests."

Perfect! Zhang Chengfu's eyes narrowed into slits with laughter, because the Chang'an residence of Zhang Yichao back then had indeed been in the old Anyi Ward, right beside the former residence of Zhang Jian, Duke of Wancheng Commandery, whose family was known as the Zhangs of the Three Halberds.

The old fox still remembered some old Chang'an matters after all. So Zhang Chengfu brought out the second means of winning him over that Zhang Zhao had provided.

"The Sage's eldest son by adoption, the Prince of Liaoyang Commandery, has to this day only two sons and three daughters, which has always been a worry to the Sage. Hearing that Elder Hu is blessed with many children and much fortune, and that the young ladies of his household are of good, fertile stock, the Sage has specially ordered this servant to seek a marriage alliance with Elder Hu. Would Elder Hu be willing to part with a granddaughter to serve as a consort to the Prince of Liaoyang Commandery?"

The good eldest son was about to receive an imperial surname, and would most likely be renamed Zhang Jiong, courtesy name Xinchang.

Although he would still walk the world under the name Murong Xinzhang, just as Zheng Chenggong was called Zhu Chenggong or "the Imperial-Surname Chenggong," on formal documents he would be called Zhang Jiong or Zhang Xinchang.

This was also why Zhang Chengfu referred to him as the eldest son by adoption.

The Prince of Liaoyang Commandery, Murong Baipao! A hero of the realm! Had it been anyone else, Hu Jinsi might have hesitated for half a moment — sending his own legitimate granddaughter to be a concubine was truly not very dignified.

But on the one hand, Murong Xinzhang's observance of propriety was known throughout the world; to this day he had only one wife and two concubines. And with Xinzhang's title of Prince of Liaoyang Commandery, his concubines were no longer mere concubines — they were consorts with official rank and titles.

Hu Jinsi's eyes darted about. A granddaughter was nowhere near as reliable as a daughter. "This old man has a daughter, just turned twenty this year, who above all admires warriors. She has always said she would marry none but a hero of the realm, and so has lingered unwed until now.

Her age is somewhat advanced, but she was born of the principal wife, is well-read and sensible, and is most suited to attend upon the Prince of Liaoyang Commandery."

Zhang Chengfu could not help but widen his eyes. Good heavens, you old man — other people in their seventies need help just to walk, and you could still father children in your seventies?

Hu Jinsi was not actually lying. It was just that the old man had outlived four principal wives alone, most of them favored concubines raised to wife, and of his twenty-odd sons only eight still lived. Reckoned that way, his children were almost all born of principal wives.

This daughter had been born when his third principal wife was nearly forty — an old clam producing a pearl — and was doted on beyond measure. A child-betrothal had originally been arranged for her, but the little husband-to-be had died before turning ten, and so she had been delayed all the way to twenty without marrying.

Now this was a huge gain. Not only did the family gain security, but the daughter could marry a hero of the realm like Murong Xinzhang.

Watching Hu Jinsi's overjoyed expression, Zhang Chengfu inwardly wiped a tear for the old fellow.

The Sage Zhang Zhao's favors were not so cheaply obtained. The Prince of Liaoyang Commandery was about to attack Wang-ruled Goryeo, and when that happened, the Hu family and this bunch of local magnates would be squeezed dry of who knew how much oil.

Once the formal talks concluded, a banquet followed, and they drank until the third watch before Zhang Chengfu and his two companions took their leave.

But after they left, Hu Jinsi did not go to sleep. Instead he summoned his eldest son Hu Jing, his youngest son Hu Qing, his grandson Hu Zhao, and a burly man who falsely claimed to be Hu Jinsi's grandson, into the study.

This burly man was named Qian Hongtai, the legitimate grandson of Qian Liu's third brother, Qian Biao. Although Qian Biao had killed a man while drunk and fled to the Southern Wu kingdom of the Xu family at the time, many of his descendants still lived in the Wuyue kingdom.

And Hu Jinsi's eldest son, Hu Jing, had married Qian Biao's daughter — making him, by reckoning, this burly man Qian Hongtai's own paternal uncle by marriage.

At the same time, Qian Hongtai was the cousin of the current Great King, Qian Hongchu.

Qian Hongtai had always possessed great physical strength, and in his youth had been friendly with Qian Hongchu, so he had entered the inner guards and for years served as a personal bodyguard at Qian Hongchu's side.

Historically, the reconciliation between Qian Hongchu and Hu Jinsi — in which Hu Jinsi's crimes were not pursued, allowing the Hu family of Yuezhou to make a soft landing — had been communicated through messages carried by Qian Hongtai.

Once Hu Jinsi had summoned the three men, that somewhat ingratiating manner from before vanished in an instant, replaced by a look of deep contemplation.

Seen from a distance, with that gaunt frame seated there, he truly resembled one of those thousand-year-old foxes.

"What does Qing'er think?" Hu Jinsi asked Hu Qing softly.

Hu Qing was Hu Jinsi's youngest son, only sixteen this year. The daughter of Hu Jinsi who was to be married to Murong Xinzhang was Hu Qing's full sister, born of the same mother.

He thought for a moment. He felt that the bearing of both Zhang Chengfu and Wang Jiu had been extremely sincere, so he cupped his hands in congratulations and said, "The court is so cordial to us — your son congratulates Father."

"And Dalang, what do you think?" This time Hu Jinsi asked his eldest son, Hu Jing.

Hu Jing was already sixty-five this year. He shook his head. "Your son cannot see it clearly, nor see through it. These two men — especially the Marquis of Xiaoyuan, a hero renowned throughout the realm — such men's minds are hard to fathom. Your son is dull, and can only sense that they are not entirely without ill intent."

Hu Zhao, without waiting for Hu Jinsi to ask, stepped forward and said, "Grandfather, your grandson feels that the Duke of Nanyang Commandery and the Marquis of Xiaoyuan still harbor some ill intentions.

Your grandson followed the Sage across the northern desert this time, and came to know deeply that the Sage truly possesses great benevolence and righteousness — he is a sage Son of Heaven who appears but once in five hundred years."

But how could such a sage Son of Heaven possess only the face of the compassionate Bodhisattva, and not the face of the wrathful Vajra?

If he relied on compassion and benevolence alone, how could he be about to encompass all under heaven?

The Sage Son of Heaven's other face, unlike his compassionate one, is truly one of meticulous planning, decisive action, and never a soft hand when it is time to kill."

"Hahaha!" Hearing Hu Zhao speak thus, Hu Jinsi laughed with satisfaction.

"Exactly so. Even gods and Buddhas have their fire; how could the Sage Son of Heaven have only a benevolent face?

It seems there are still quite a few of those murderous wretches in the Great Zhou army. Under heaven now there remain only Southern Tang, Wuyue, and the Han state of Lingnan. If all of them offered up their lands in submission, where would those men go to win the great merit of destroying a state? I can see that Wang Jiu and his sort can hardly wait for us to resist."

Having said this, Hu Jinsi looked at Hu Jing and said with satisfaction: "My son is prudent; the family estate in Yuezhou should be secure."

Then he looked at Hu Qing. "With the Prince of Liaoyang Commandery as a towering tree, my son will have no worries in this life. But you lack that seven-orifice cunning heart, so it is better you do not enter official service.

Are you not fond of poetry and song? Come with your father to Luoyang, and be a carefree immortal of verse."

Finally, Hu Jinsi looked at Hu Zhao. "My grandson is a true hero. From now on, the Hu family will depend on you."

(End of Chapter)

Related