Chapter 327: Powerful Clans and Great Families

The war was over.

Returning to Ju'er Bay at the headwaters of the Huang River, the common folk lined both banks to cheer the triumphant army, but Liu Chengzong's heart was heavy.

Traveling east, he saw that many large canals and branch ditches had been dug along both sides of the Huang River, enough to irrigate several thousand qing of fields — yet the land actually reclaimed by Xining Prefecture was nowhere near that much.

And the people all around were numerous. Ragged old Mongols and Western Fan women were everywhere; even the Han people were dressed in dire poverty. In a daze, it felt like returning to the hunger and bitter cold of northern Shaanxi.

The banks of the Huang River were a chaotic mess, refugee tents visible almost everywhere, with no planning or construction to speak of — a far cry from the prosperous place he had imagined as the richest part of Xining Prefecture.

When he cast a puzzled look at his elder brother and Li Wanqing, Liu Chengzu, riding alongside, said: "Before Lhazang fled, he sent thirty-seven thousand elderly, weak, women, and children. The Huangnan Fan tribes also fled north to escape the fighting. Over fifty thousand people poured into Xining, and with the imperial court massing troops at Lanzhou, Father had no choice but to move them all into Ju'er Bay."

Having said this, Liu Chengzu added helplessly: "That's why I said those thirty-odd thousand people you brought can only stay in Haixi and Haibei. Ju'er Bay can't hold any more."

Liu Chengzong's heart sank a notch. He frowned. "Lhazang sent thirty-seven thousand people?"

When he had accepted the surrender at Nanshan Fort, he had not accounted for these fifty thousand-plus.

"It's fine, don't worry about the numbers. More lice don't bite harder. Xining Prefecture only had forty thousand on the registers to begin with — whether it's fifty thousand more or eighty thousand more, honestly... it hardly makes a difference anymore."

After Liu Chengzu spoke, Li Wanqing nodded in agreement. He seemed to take it rather lightly, pointing east and saying: "These past two years, four hundred qing of land have been opened west of Xining, and the tusi north and south of Xining have opened another two hundred-odd qing. You've returned victorious from campaign — first get some good rest. We can pull through."

Liu Chengzong calculated left and right. Six hundred-odd qing of land could yield seventy thousand dan of grain at the absolute most. He truly could not fathom where his brother and Li Wanqing's confidence in pulling through came from. He asked: "What is Father planning?"

"Xining City has grain reserves. If we tighten our belts, we can last until next summer. We'll use our silver reserves to buy grain in the Hehuang Valley. Now that we have the people this year, we'll dig canals and reclaim land..."

Liu Chengzu spoke with clarity and logic, though worry still lingered between his brows: "I'm just afraid we won't make it to the autumn harvest."

"If we can make it to summer, that's enough. Grit your teeth and autumn will come."

Liu Chengzong didn't even believe his own words. He gave a bitter smile. "If we pull through, we pull through. If we don't, we attack Lanzhou."

His elder brother burst out laughing at that, as if attacking Lanzhou was something that could just be stopped once started. "Tch, stop thinking about attacking Lanzhou. Tens of thousands of starving Gansu border troops surrendering to you — doesn't that scare you? We'd be better off attacking Hami."

Having said that, Liu Chengzu shook his head. "Money and grain are small matters. The cart will find its way to the mountain pass. Father is waiting at Ju'er Bay to ask you about a big matter."

"What big matter?"

"You'll know when you get there. First, let me ask you." Liu Chengzu suddenly turned serious. "Where is that Mongol woman you were supposed to find for me?"

"Huh?" Liu Chengzong was baffled by his brother's sudden change of topic. "What Mongol woman?"

Liu Chengzu glared. "I can pull out fifty thousand Mongols right now without spending a single ticket. Didn't you ask me if I had any plans to find you a Mongol sister-in-law? Well, where is my Mongol sister-in-law?"

Liu Chengzong suddenly understood and burst out laughing. "So that's what Brother meant. Everyone around here is a defeated foe — finding one worthy of Big Brother won't be easy!"

Truthfully, his idea at the time had been to marry his elder brother to the daughter of a major Qinghai Mongol chieftain. But now both Beye and Lhazang had fled to Ü-Tsang, and Beye's family had no one of marriageable age. As for Lhazang... that guy had maxed out his skill in running away — his genes were unreliable.

"Should I send someone to ask Chahar Khundulen if his family has a suitable girl?"

Liu Chengzong pondered for a moment, then shook his head and dismissed his own idea. "Not quite right. Chogtu wants to draw him into Qinghai. Sending someone to ask him now... it feels strange in my heart, as if I'm sending my elder brother off for a political marriage."

Li Wanqing held back a grin. Liu Chengzu roared with laughter. "That would be Chahar coming to you for a political marriage. What, do you want me to become a live-in son-in-law?"

"Then how about asking the Oirats — wait!" Halfway through, the smile on Liu Chengzong's face suddenly froze. "Brother, you just said Father is waiting at Ju'er Bay to ask me about a big matter. Don't tell me it's..."

Li Wanqing could hold it in no longer. He exchanged a glance with Liu Chengzu, and the two erupted in enormous laughter, saying to Liu Chengzong: "A lifelong matter!"

Oh no!

Marriage pressure was coming.

With the complicated feelings of impending marriage pressure, Liu Chengzong led his guard company slowly toward Ju'er Bay. Within thirty li, the scene in the river valley finally shed its decay. The surroundings changed from desolation to harvested fields, interspersed with the wooden huts and earthen houses of common folk. Even on the hills on both banks, people had dug out cave dwellings.

Drawing closer, one could see an unbroken stretch of workshops and markets, as well as newly built city walls.

It was a city not very large. Liu Chengzu said that was where the training camp and academy had been. After word of the southern campaign's victory came back, Father believed Xining needed a Marshal's Manor built. So, taking advantage of the earth excavated for the surrounding canals, several brick kilns were raised. They planned the fortifications, fired bricks, and rammed earth — building the Qinghai Marshal's Office inside and low, thick city walls outside.

When Lhazang fled and large numbers of grainless Huangnan Mongol commoners took refuge in Xining, Father, considering they had no grain, employed them through relief work. Several more brick kilns were built, and the Marshal's Manor's walls were faced with grey bricks.

Liu Chengzong was puzzled. "I thought I saw earthen walls. Was I mistaken?"

"You weren't mistaken. The brick facing isn't finished. The grey bricks already fired were all used to build the granaries and the academy first." Li Wanqing smiled. "With the imperial court massing troops at Lanzhou, the project was halted and the brick facing started from the east side of the city first. It won't be fully completed until next year."

After Li Wanqing finished, he sighed. "Ever since word came back of the Grand Marshal's nine battles and nine victories at the Yellow River source, the Old Master already foresaw that Xining Prefecture's population would explode once this campaign ended. After that, he stopped rushing the brick facing and built a large pickling yard and a roasted-flour yard. Whole pigs, cattle, and sheep were pickled one after another, and roasted flour was made by the hundred-pan batch."

The closer they got to the Marshal's Manor, the better Liu Chengzu's mood became.

Rations were a huge problem Liu Chengzong had not mentally prepared for, but for the people of Xining Prefecture, every preparation had already been made.

Grain reserves had all been brought out. Nearly all the grain, oil, and livestock that could be bought east of Xining had been purchased. Even fodder had been stockpiled in large quantities. The only thing left to do was buy some vegetables.

Aside from planning the next war, whether the surrendered population was eighty thousand or eight hundred thousand, there was nothing more they could do.

But even planning a war was deeply frustrating. The only place nearby they could fight was Lanzhou, but attacking Lanzhou meant having to consider the Gansu border troops. A direct assault was unlikely to succeed, and enticing their surrender required grain they simply didn't have — which would only further increase the odds of collapse.

And Hami was actually an impractical direction. Though the distance was similar to the expedition to Nangqian, on the southern march the Mongols along the way had provided supplies, and once there, the Nangqian tusi's tribesmen could receive them. Now they had nothing. Never mind starving to death halfway — even if they made it there alive to fight, they would lose.

After considering every possibility, Liu Chengzu had given up pondering these matters. He would take it one step at a time. Compared to a crisis that would not arrive until next year, the Lion coming back to share hardship with him — and face marriage pressure together — was clearly the thing that delighted him most lately.

If he had the choice, Liu Chengzu would rather have gone on the southern campaign himself and left the Lion at their parents' side to face the marriage pressure.

After all, for most people in the Lion's army, having six months of grain reserves — could that even be called a food crisis?

Liu Chengzu could not solve the current rations dilemma. He rather hoped the Lion could help him solve his marriage dilemma.

Liu Chengzong was exactly the opposite.

Ten li outside the city, Xining officials, academy students, and officers and soldiers lined the road to welcome him. From afar, Liu Chengzong spotted his father and mother standing in the middle of the road. The anxiety in his heart along the journey suddenly vanished without a trace.

He spurred his horse and galloped ahead a dozen paces, and saw his father and the many officials cup their hands and say in unison: "We respectfully welcome the Marshal's triumphant return!"

Liu Chengzong reined in his horse and wheeled in a circle. From horseback, he clasped his fist in return salute to the crowd, then dismounted. A guard took the reins. He walked forward, looking at his father, who was biting his lip slightly with a smile at the corner of his mouth, and his mother, whose eyes had reddened. He obediently knelt and bowed. "Father, Mother, your son has returned!"

Lady Cai looked as if she was about to cry, but then broke into a smile through tears. She stepped forward to help him up. "Mother thought you'd be dark and thin. How come you've gotten fatter?"

Liu Chengzong's face was all smiles, but inside, his heart was a mix of emotions. He only said: "Mother, rest assured. How could I let myself suffer?"

In truth, how could there have been no suffering? Just the mad dash from Dajianlu back to Nangqian — thirteen days riding one thousand four hundred li — had cost him a great deal of flesh.

It was just that later, during those two months waiting on the Heka Grassland to attack Bajiao City, he had eaten it all back.

Liu Xiangyu was also gratified that his second son had not grown thin. He nodded. "Take a look at your Marshal's City."

The party then entered the city on foot. The gate was at the southwest corner. Inside was a rammed-earth barbican; the inner gate faced south. The city's layout was not large, broadly similar to Bajiao City. For now, the interior still looked quite empty — aside from the academy, there was only the distant Marshal's Manor and a few residences.

The Marshal's Manor, however, was built on no small scale, occupying nearly a tenth of the very center of the city. A four-courtyard compound facing south, with two-courtyard side wings to the east and west. At the four corners of the estate, four gaps were formed, where walled palisades and watchtowers were built — clearly intended for garrisoning troops.

The entire manor had over seventy rooms. The architectural style felt very familiar to Liu Chengzong. The decorative regulations resembled the Prince of Han's mansion, yet the feeling upon entering was like walking into an oversized government office.

The moment he stepped through the main gate, he glanced left and right, his face full of understanding — the old man had indeed arranged six rooms in the front courtyard. A careful question revealed that neither his parents nor his elder brother lived here. His parents' residence was next door; his elder brother would stay there when visiting temporarily, but mainly lived in Xining City.

Liu Chengzong mused that his old man's way of urging marriage was rather unique — he'd simply built him a prince's mansion, expecting him to figure out on his own that the residence lacked the warmth of people.

What surprised him, however, was that a meal had long been prepared in the rear hall. The family sat together for dinner, and until the meal ended, not a single person mentioned marriage. They merely chatted about what he had seen and heard on the southern campaign, until only he and his father remained at the table.

Liu Xiangyu gently tapped his pipe, drank a cup of thick wine, and gazed at Liu Chengzong with a slight frown, silent for a long while.

Liu Chengzong grew uneasy under his father's stare and asked, "Da, what's the matter?"

Liu Xiangyu set down his pipe, let out a heavy sigh through his nose, and finally spoke: "Lion Cub, promise me something."

"Da, just say it."

"Don't go back to Kangning Prefecture. Hand matters there over to your Teacher Yang, and have Chengyun come back too."

"This…" Liu Chengzong had never imagined his old man would bring up this matter. He froze for a moment, then asked, "Why?"

"Why else?"

Liu Xiangyu picked up his pipe again, frowned at him for a moment, then sighed and said, "Lion Cub, Da has never had the chance to ask you — what do you plan to do next?"

Liu Chengzong thought to himself, so that's what this is about. He felt much more at ease with this question from his old man.

"Expand the Armory Bureau at Ju'erwan. I looked on my way here — they're all workshops. We need to merge the workshops, establish larger factories with clearer division of labor, build water-powered and hoisting tools, and mass-produce firearms, cannons, armor, and gunpowder. Set up a complete recruitment and training system for the army… push the troops to the Lanzhou river mouth, fully occupy the Hehuang Valley, and solve the grain and fodder problem."

Liu Xiangyu listened all the while, nodding slowly. When he finished, he said, "Da also plans to push the army to the river mouth. Attacking Lanzhou can't sustain Gansu; attacking Hami can't bear the enormous supply burden. But occupying the Hehuang Valley is imperative. That, however, is not what Da wanted to ask."

Old Master Liu leaned forward slightly, fixing his eyes on Liu Chengzong. "Do you want to proclaim yourself king in the northwest and southwest, or do you want to march east and contend for all under heaven?"

Liu Chengzong did not hesitate at all: "The court's mandate is nearly spent. Contend for all under heaven."

He seemed to hear the sound of a massive stone dropping from Liu Xiangyu's heart.

Old Master Liu glanced left and right. With no one else present in the hall, he said slowly, "If you want to contend for all under heaven, you cannot go back to Kangning. Who knows how many people there want to kill you. A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Da knows your martial skill is excellent, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against."

Liu Chengzong had wanted to talk back, but in the end he said nothing. Not because he felt he would be in danger in Kangning Prefecture, but simply because he felt there was indeed no need for him to return to Kangning any time soon. He nodded and said, "Da, I understand."

Old Master Liu spoke with absolute conviction: "You don't understand."

"If you wish to stop here, seize territory and call yourself king, then relying on your old man's old bones, relying on two brothers, we can hold up the framework here. But if you want to contend for all under heaven…"

Liu Xiangyu slowly shook his head. "We are not a powerful, great clan. I fear only that time will not wait for us. You three brothers must marry as soon as possible. Without the constraints of rites and law, marry whoever you like, marry as many as you can… Then, in two or three years, once your eldest brother has had a few children, transfer Teacher Yang back to Xining."

Liu Chengzong's mouth had already frozen open involuntarily. These words did not sound in the slightest like the father he knew.

Liu Xiangyu pointed a hand toward himself. "After a few years of consolidation, once Chengyun takes over Xining, you can advance the troops on Xi'an. I will enter Kangning with your eldest brother, strike straight for Sichuan, and pinch Hanzhong from both sides. We can seize half the realm."

The route of the two-pronged advance his father described almost materialized in Liu Chengzong's mind. He shook his head. "Da, entering Sichuan from Dajianlu is very difficult."

That route was far harder than the northern line of attacking major cities and key towns in succession.

He never expected his father to shake his head directly and say, "Inciting rebellion is not difficult. And difficulty does not delay you from taking a wife and having children. If your old man and your elder brother are not the ones entering Sichuan, then no one is to enter Sichuan."

Liu Chengzong understood the meaning behind his father's words. He nodded heavily and said, "Father, rest assured, your son understands."

Seeing him agree, the old man's expression was no longer so stern. He smiled and said, "I heard from your brother that you want him to find a Mongol wife. Where would he find one? Chahar Khutugtu?"

"Try the Oirats. If Khutugtu had any real ability, he wouldn't have been beaten back in retreat after retreat."

Old Master Liu neither agreed nor disagreed with this. He simply raised his pipe leisurely for a puff and smiled. "Send people to try both… When your father was back in Mizhi, I never imagined my own eldest son would end up an Oirat tabunang."