Chapter 559: The World in Turmoil

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He Xinliang

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"Sword Snow Stride" on Zongheng, Author: Fenghuo Xizhu

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He Xinliang

Fenghuo Xizhu

Feishou City, in the southern part of Lingzhou, marks the northwest terminus of Liyang's canal transport system, while Xiangfan in Qingzhou is located at the heart of this imperial supply line. Therefore, for the imperial court to precisely control Beiliang's vital point, cooperation from Prince Jing'an, Zhao Xun, was essential. Currently, Tantan Weng, serving as the Left Vice Minister of the Central Secretariat, was very pleased with Xiangfan's actions. To acknowledge this, he requested an exceptional promotion and an irregular conferment of title from the court. Lu Xu, who had been working behind the scenes for Prince Jing'an's mansion, was openly brought to the forefront, granted a position as a Hanlin Lecturer—what ordinary people called a "Grand Yellow Gate Official"—and specially permitted not to report to the capital for duty. Previously, Chen Xiliang from Beiliang had temporarily resided in Feishou City, spending a full ten days negotiating with Vice Minister Gu Dacheng of the imperial canal transport. Despite all his calculations, he couldn't get the Vice Minister to concede even slightly.

At dawn, a simple carriage entered Feishou City through the North Gate and stopped at Shanhai Wharf in the southern part of the city. Three men of disparate ages alighted: two young men of similar age and a gaunt, green-robed elder. They stood on the desolate wharf, where only a few grain ships were visible. The shorter young man, who had a Liangdao saber at his waist, kicked a mooring post and glanced towards the temporary official residence of the grain transport Vice Minister. He grumbled to the gray-haired young lord beside him, "Gu Dacheng and his father, Gu Zhui, are known as the 'Greater and Lesser Gu Pixiu of the River.' Gu Zhui supposedly adopted the master of the current Directorate of Ceremonial's Chief Eunuch as his foster father, which allowed both father and son to successively serve as grain transport commissioners. It's said they earned enough silver to fill a 'C-grade' granary. However, despite Gu Dacheng's greed, with Old Man Huan from the imperial court personally overseeing his finances, he wouldn't dare take a single copper coin from Beiliang, no matter how bold he is. In my opinion, this is a dead end. We might as well just kill Gu. Then, for every transport commissioner who comes, we kill them too, until no one in Liyang dares to provoke us. At that point, we in Beiliang can openly manage our own private grain transport. Along the sixteen canals and over fifty granaries between Feishou City and Xiangfan City, there will surely be local gentry bold enough to do business with Beiliang. Or, to put it another way, if that doesn't work, we can just rob them! Mount Qingliang has so many martial artists; they can't just eat all year without working. There's no such free lunch in this world."

Unfortunately, the incognito King of Beiliang and the Mo School Grandmaster Yang Guangdou didn't echo a single word of his. They merely strolled along the bluestone pavement of Shanhai Wharf, heading towards the nearby Transport Commissioner's residence. The residence had been built many years ago and was rarely renovated, making it appear even more dilapidated compared to the Prefect's mansion within the city. It was no wonder the Gu father and son didn't bother to maintain appearances. The slightest overstep would be interpreted by imperial censors as collusion with Beiliang and self-enrichment, leading to severe impeachment. Even with the backing of a powerful eunuch in the capital, it would be useless; anyone who interceded in such matters would be courting death.

The Transport Commissioner's residence was surrounded by a fence, and the dozen or so armored soldiers guarding it seemed extremely nervous, their eyes timid. Some mischievous local children kept throwing stones into the fence, but not a single armored soldier dared to speak up. Bored, they resorted to finding amusement in their misery: when the officials were absent, they would use their iron spears to knock down the stones, which only encouraged the already playful children to eagerly search for more stones to throw inside. Xu Fengnian stood a few paces from the fence and quietly said, "The imperial court's obstruction of Beiliang on the matter of canal transport isn't entirely about testing my limits. It's also because Western Chu's restoration is imminent. At that time, though the various loyalist armies won't dare to demand excessively, they must at least be assured of full bellies. When a bowstring twangs, it's tens of thousands of taels of gold. Warfare, at its core, is a competition of resources. Otherwise, without money or food, Gu Jiantang, even with hundreds of thousands of troops, would merely stare helplessly and couldn't outlast the New Western Chu, with Sun Xiji strategizing internally and Cao Changqing leading troops externally. Many say that if Western Chu had made up its mind earlier, and if Cao Changqing had taken control of Ye Baikui's military authority long before Xilei Wall, Liyang would have needed at least another five or ten years to fully pacify the Spring and Autumn Period."

Yang Guangdou smiled faintly, "Regarding the restoration of Western Chu, I have run countless simulations. Some battles will undoubtedly not end quickly."

Xu Fengnian nodded, "Six-tenths of the empire's taxes come from Western Chu. Over the years, Liyang has exploited Western Chu terribly; even the most fertile lands cannot withstand such 'killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.' However, Yuan Benxi and his 'green-eyed' faction deliberately want to force Western Chu into rebellion. Gu Jiantang and Gu Lu also dream of fighting Western Chu. In times of peace, civil officials enjoy prosperity, while military generals can only live off their past achievements. So, the Zhao emperor quickly found things for important court officials like Zhao Youling and Yin Maochun to do, either evaluating officials or presiding over imperial examinations, to prevent them from having too much energy and only using it to create obstacles. For many years, the imperial court has intentionally weakened military defenses around Western Chu, on one hand making Western Chu believe restoration is possible, and on the other, harboring more sinister intentions. Among the major vassal kings, not to mention the distant King of Jiaodong, Zhao Sui, consider kings like Zhao Ying of Huainan and Zhao Heng of Jing'an. They are relatively weaker vassal kings, but they still retain between four to five thousand and over ten thousand elite troops. Sending them to 'quell rebellions' is a deliberate scheme to lead them by the nose, forcing them to exhaust their elite troops at the Western Chu border. Such a malicious measure to weaken the vassal states is definitely Yuan Benxi's idea. Once the Western Chu affair is over, Prince Guangling, Zhao Yi, will face Western Chu head-on. The 'fat' he painstakingly accumulated will be largely cut off after this battle; if he's unlucky, not a single soldier will remain. I feel pain for him just thinking about it. Zhao Sui of Liaodong is already suppressed by Gu Jiantang to the point of being breathless. So, only I and Prince Yan Chi, Zhao Bing, remain unconstrained. But Beimang is quite understanding, in sync with Liyang, and is about to fight Beiliang to the death. 'You fight your Western Chu, I fight my Beiliang; everyone does their own thing.' I even suspect that Yuan Benxi and that Peace Commander are working together. Ultimately, only Zhao Zhu's father, this one great vassal king, can still live freely and leisurely."

Yang Guangdou chuckled softly, "Nalan Youci's ability to avoid disaster is so great that if he claims to be second in the world, no one would dare claim first."

Xu Fengnian murmured to himself, "The war between Liyang and Western Chu will definitely precede ours with Beimang. Even if the Zhao imperial house knows Beimang won't be able to spare attention for the eastern front, they still won't let Gu Jiantang participate. They finally got rid of Xu Xiao; they can't afford to nurture a second Xu Xiao. While there's no limit to the honors civil officials can receive, military generals often become powerful due to their troops. Unless something unexpected happens, it will likely be Lu Baijie overseeing the Ministry of War and Lu Shengxiang leading troops south from the capital. However, Lu Baijie has only recently been appointed Minister of War, so that possibility is smaller. Lu Shengxiang, once he achieves military merits, will be in a better position to contend with Lu Baijie upon his return to the capital, preventing the Ministry of War from becoming the personal domain of the 'Tangxi Sword Immortal.' If Lu Shengxiang leads, several old geezers, like Grand General Anguo Yang Shenxing, will definitely try to get a piece of the pie while they can still barely mount a horse and wield a saber. But whether it's Lu Shengxiang or this group of Spring and Autumn veterans like Yang Shenxing, none of them are close to Cao Changqing's level. Lu Shengxiang is fine; his military tactics aren't bad, but he's destined to be constrained from all sides. In the early stages, the only troops likely to fight to the death even at a disadvantage are probably those of Prince Guangling, Zhao Yi. In my opinion, this war isn't just 'winnable' for Western Chu; it's possible Cao Changqing will sweep through everything and march directly to Tai'an City."

Yang Guangdou frowned, "Western Chu intends to march north after gaining the upper hand? Forget Cao Changqing; even Beimang wouldn't have much chance of victory if they dared to put the decisive battle outside Tai'an City."

Xu Fengnian chuckled, "I was just saying it casually."

Yang Guangdou laughed heartily, "If that were truly the case, it would be a huge boon for Beiliang! Beimang might just decide on a whim to abandon the western front, turn around, and attack the eastern front, joining Western Chu in a pincer movement on Tai'an City from north and south. That would be truly spectacular! Didn't Gu Jiantang always believe he only lost to the Grand General due to 'heaven's timing'? Now he'd have a chance to prove himself! He's built up that eastern front for so many years, with all the manpower and money he could wish for, getting whatever he asked from the court. If even then it's not enough, Gu Jiantang might as well go hang himself with a few noodles!"

Cao Wei interjected, "Is Cao Changqing really that formidable?"

Yang Guangdou sighed softly, "During the Spring and Autumn Period, Western Chu scholars were at their peak, and among them, Cao Longli was the most celebrated. 'Cao the Foremost Scholar, the unrivaled talent of Western Chu'—that's no exaggeration. However, the world has been blinded by his four entries into the imperial palace, largely seeing him as an unparalleled martial arts master. When it comes to military strategy and formation, he and Chen Zhibao are probably the strongest. Gu Jiantang's strength lies in always demanding to have every strategic advantage in battle, claiming that if he fights, he will win. Overall, he's still slightly inferior to both Cao and Chen. As for 'heaven's timing'—the Mandate of Heaven—it is both elusive and unquantifiable. Gu Jiantang's 'heaven's timing' is the general trend of Liyang's power, while Cao Changqing's is the ebb and flow of Western Chu's fate. As for Chen Zhibao, he's probably still waiting."

Xu Fengnian smiled calmly, "Chen Zhibao is waiting for Cao Changqing and Western Chu to be annihilated together. He's waiting for Beimang, Beiliang, and Gu Jiantang to suffer heavy losses from fighting each other. Then it will be his turn, the 'Little Butcher,' to make his grand entrance. Xu Xiao merely leveled the Spring and Autumn Period; Chen Zhibao's ambition is clearly much greater. He wants to personally unify the world and forge a vast empire unseen for a thousand years. As for whether he wants to be emperor himself, Heaven knows."

Yang Guangdou let out a long breath, "As soon as the Grand General left, this world began to fall into great chaos."

Cao Wei tsk-tsked, "Anyway, I'm definitely not going to fight Chen Zhibao face-to-face."

The short man slowly counted on his fingers and said, "The Phoenix Camp has already garrisoned Qingcang in the Land of Refugees, and the Little Prince's Dragon Elephant Army has also largely infiltrated. Adding to that, Fatty Chu and Yuan Baixiong to the north of Liang and You Prefectures, Beiliang finally has its own eastern and western fronts. Along with the strategically important passes and towns guarded by fourteen new commanders within our territory, that forms a second line of defense. As for me, I'll go further northwest into the Land of Refugees. That's a crucial third line of defense. It's not really about defense or non-defense; I'll just attack and not defend. Once you all have fought each other to death, I'll come in for the decisive blow. Hey, Xu, let's agree now: give me five thousand light cavalry and ten thousand superior warhorses, and I can help you fish in troubled waters and flatten the Southern Dynasty's stronghold in one go. If you dare to give me ten thousand men and twenty thousand horses, I'll even help you take down the Northern Dynasty's Great King's Tent."

Xu Fengnian said helplessly, "It's not that I can't give them to you, but do you really think Beimang is a bunch of blind fools, a bunch of good-for-nothings?"

Cao Wei rolled his eyes, "Regarding this grand raid that's destined to go down in history, I've been simulating it for over ten years, turning it over and over. My whole life, I've been counting on this one battle to make a name for myself. What do you think?"

Xu Fengnian was about to speak when he heard a familiar "hehe."

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