Volume Three: The Southern Expedition and Territorial Expansion Chapter 154: Heading South

Li Zhang, the Prefect of Langzhou, was in charge of the matter and informed Wei Fufeng that the barbarian chieftain and prefect of Chenzhou was resistant to the opening of the trade route and had repeatedly carried out covert raids and looting.

The establishment of the Tian clan of Sizhou in Jinzhou had also encountered hostility from the local Liao tribes.

The Liao tribes of Jinzhou (Tongren) had only nominally submitted to the Sizhou Tian clan. Their territorial awareness was extremely acute, and they considered the presence of the Sizhou Tian clan an overreach.

Li Zhang suggested dispatching troops to force open the Yuanjiang trade route, joining forces with the Sizhou Tian clan to jointly seize Chenzhou, and appointing a new prefect for Chenzhou.

He also proposed that the military forces of Southern Sichuan should assist the Sizhou Tian clan in building a fortified city along the Jinjiang River to secure their footing.

Wei Fufeng rejected Li Zhang's suggestion, as he knew the Tian clan would never send troops to cooperate with the Southern Sichuan army.

The Sizhou Tian clan strictly adhered to the ruling norms of the Liao tribes and could not afford to acquire the reputation of colluding with external forces, which would lead to internal strife and self-destruction of their foundation.

Wei Fufeng told Li Zhang that the current top priority was to pacify and govern the Dongting Lake plain, with the primary military focus on defending against the E-Yue and Jingnan armies. It was not advisable to march troops into Chenzhou for the time being.

Upon arriving in Tanzhou, Wei Fufeng was briefed by the Military Defense Commissioner Gan Fengchi on a thorny military situation.

A report from Shaozhou indicated that the Qian-Dong Liao tribes to the west of Shaozhou were showing hostile movements and might launch an attack on Shaozhou.

Wei Fufeng frowned upon hearing this. Qian-Dong belonged to the region of raw, unpacified barbarians, located south of Jinzhou. The Sizhou Tian clan had very little influence over the Qian-Dong Liao tribes and could only gather some basic intelligence.

The hostile movements of the Qian-Dong raw barbarians were perhaps the consequence of the alliance between the Sizhou Tian clan and him, while the previously hostile Prefect of Chenzhou had likely reversed his stance out of a self-preservation reflex.

Wei Fufeng was about to lead an army on an expedition to Guiguan. To the northwest of the Guiguan region lay Qiannan and Qiandong. The hostility of the raw barbarians would be an endless nuisance to the governance of Guiguan and Shaozhou.

The raw barbarians were extremely difficult to communicate with, belonging to the category of ungrateful ingrates who could never be truly tamed. Their allegiance was fickle; they would accept gifts and pacification today, only to turn hostile and launch raids tomorrow.

Wei Fufeng discussed the matter with Gan Fengchi, who believed that a policy of appeasement and conciliation was unnecessary.

Appeasement could not guarantee peaceful coexistence with the raw barbarians. The best approach was to strengthen defense and garrisons, and once the opportunity arose, the military forces of Tanzhou and Yelang Prefecture would advance from two directions to conquer Qiannan and Qiandong.

The hostile movements of the raw barbarians disrupted Wei Fufeng's deployment of forces. He had originally planned to detach three thousand troops from Tanzhou, combining them with other forces to form an army of thirteen thousand for an expedition to Guizhou.

After taking Guizhou, if the timing and situation permitted, three thousand troops would be left behind to garrison the area, while ten thousand troops would be led on an expedition to Lingnan East Circuit, seizing Guangzhou directly under the guise of an imperial decree.

After weighing his options, Wei Fufeng mobilized five thousand troops from Fuzhou to be placed under the command of the Wuling Military Defense Commissioner. Five thousand troops from Wuling were transferred to Tanzhou, and five thousand troops from Tanzhou were dispatched on the expedition to Guizhou.

With the military orders issued, Wei Fufeng led a force of fifteen thousand out of Tanzhou, heading toward Shaozhou under the guise of an inspection tour.

Upon arriving at the seat of Shaozhou, Shaoyang County, the main army camped and rested. Wei Fufeng inspected the city's defenses and the livelihood of the common people.

Three days later, the main army broke camp and marched south, following the upper reaches of the Zijiang River, and then continuing south along a tributary to enter the territory of Yongzhou.

Turning southeast, they reached the Xiangjiang River, passed Lingling County, the administrative seat of Yongzhou, and moved south along the Xiangjiang River into the territory of Guizhou.

Guizhou was a superior prefecture and the largest prefectural domain under the jurisdiction of Guiguanya. At its peak, its registered population exceeded four hundred thousand, and even now it still had a population of seventy to eighty thousand.

It governed ten counties, namely Linggui (Guilin), Quanyi, Lingchuan, Yangshuo, Yongfu, Jianling, Liding, Muhua, Yongfeng, and Lipu.

Guizhou was originally the capital seat and a prosperous treasure land where a hundred clans came to pay court and merchants gathered. However, due to the shock of the Huang Chao rebellion and the decline of the Tang dynasty's rule, it had headed toward decline and desolation.

The Guiguan Observation Commissioner was named Zhou Yuanjing, who concurrently served as the Prefect of Guizhou.

Based on intelligence reports, Wei Fufeng knew that Zhou Yuanjing was a mediocre official. During his many years in office, not only had he failed to seize opportunities to build a powerful regional domain, but his power had grown increasingly weaker, causing the governance of Guiguan to become ever more fragmented and self-serving.

Although Zhou Yuanjing was the Prefect of Guizhou, the only counties he could actually control were Linggui County and Lingchuan County, while the other counties had been usurped and dominated by the Prefects of Xiangzhou and Liuzhou.

Zhou Yuanjing could barely maintain a facade with three thousand troops, and he had to rely on an alliance with the neighboring Prefects of Rongzhou and Zhaozhou.

As Wei Fufeng's main army marched along the Xiangjiang River, he dispatched a vanguard of three thousand troops to launch a surprise attack and capture Lingchuan County along the way. Lingchuan County had only three hundred garrison troops and a population of over a thousand in the city.

According to the captured county magistrate's confession, the entire population of Lingchuan County was only three thousand, while Linggui County had a population of over ten thousand.

In recent years, Guizhou had suffered too much population loss, mostly driven away by other prefectures, while very few external immigrants flowed in.

After encamping and resting in Lingchuan County for a day, Wei Fufeng left five thousand troops behind to garrison Lingchuan County, coerced the officials and garrison troops of Lingchuan to set out, and advanced to attack Linggui County.

As soon as the fifteen thousand-strong main army arrived at the city walls of Linggui, they besieged the city to prevent Zhou Yuanjing from escaping and to cut off any loss of population and garrison troops within the city. Wei Fufeng could not allow the garrison troops to defect to other prefectures.

Thinking they would have to assault the city, he was surprised when they shouted that they had come by imperial decree to take over as the Guiguan Observation Commissioner; the commander of the northern city gate actually opened the city and surrendered, paying no heed to whether the claim was true or false, nor reporting to the incumbent observation commissioner.

The large army surged into Linggui County city, systematically sealing off the streets and imposing a curfew. Soldiers with booming voices shouted that the new observation commissioner had arrived by imperial decree to take charge, telling the military and civilian populace within the city not to panic.

Many people appeared in the shops along both sides of the streets, watching the bustling scene with numb expressions.

Winning a bloodless victory was naturally a good thing. Wei Fufeng stepped into the city, observing this ancient city with a perimeter of over twenty miles as he walked.

The existence of Linggui County city could be traced back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the rule of Han officials was deeply rooted in the people's hearts.

However, in Wei Fufeng's eyes, the ancient city could only be described as dilapidated. The streets were full of potholes, and the houses were old.

The clothes of the residents in the city were tattered, and many looked sallow and emaciated. Some even had only short trousers to cover their bodies, clearly making it a place of extreme poverty.

Wei Fufeng, Yang Hao, and a group of other officials arrived at the prefectural yamen. Yang Hao would henceforth be the Prefect of Guizhou, and Military Defense Commissioner Pan Zhiwu was currently taking over the city's defenses and reorganizing the garrison troops.

In the future, the military defense of Guiguan would require the participation of locals, and Wei Fufeng would not coerce the Guizhou garrison troops into marching on Guangzhou.

The prefectural yamen was controlled by the Southern Sichuan army. Wei Fufeng stepped up the stone steps and walked into the towering, majestic yamen.

Catching sight of the spirit screen, he suddenly saw a purple-robed official hurriedly walking out from the left side of the spirit screen. The man looked to be in his forties or fifties, with regular features and a three-stranded long beard.

"This General, I am Zhou Yuanjing of this command. May I ask where the adult who has come by imperial decree to take over is?" The purple-robed official asked anxiously the moment he saw Wei Fufeng.

"My late father is Wei Xuan, who has come by imperial decree to take over as the Guiguan Observation Commissioner. I am the vanguard. Lord Zhou can simply complete the handover with me," Wei Fufeng replied with a smile.

Zhou Yuanjing looked Wei Fufeng up and down and said, "So it is the worthy nephew Wei. I wonder whence your father originates?"

Wei Fufeng frowned and said indifferently, "My father is the direct nephew of Prime Minister Wei Zhaodu. Does Lord Zhou wish to peruse the imperial decree?"

"Oh, bring it here for me to see," Zhou Yuanjing replied tactlessly.

"The imperial decree and the Ministry of Personnel official documents are with my father. If Lord Zhou wishes to stay for a few days, naturally you will be able to see them. If you do not wish to suffer any mishaps, you had better leave," Wei Fufeng said coldly.

Zhou Yuanjing's expression changed, and he forced a smile, "This command will leave right away."

Wei Fufeng smiled indifferently without speaking. Zhou Yuanjing hurriedly turned to leave. Wei Fufeng followed him in, standing outside the main hall and watching Zhou Yuanjing bustle about.

Seeing dozens of Zhou Yuanjing's house slaves and relatives moving belongings and loading carts, a moment later he saw more than a dozen beautiful women emerge, directed to mount the carts.

"Lord Zhou, you are bringing too many. These women will be a burden on the journey," Wei Fufeng said coldly.

"Worthy nephew Wei, these are singing girls who serve me. This command can present four of them to my nephew," Zhou Yuanjing said with a fawning smile.

"Leave them all behind. Yang Hao, pick one to be a concubine, and send another to Pan Zhiwu. We will discuss the rest later. You shall escort Lord Zhou away; I do not wish to see him again," Wei Fufeng said coldly, turning and walking into the main hall.

Yang Hao raised an eyebrow and shouted, "Men, seize Lord Zhou's official seal and drag him out of the city. He is only permitted to take three carts of wealth."

The surrounding soldiers swarmed forward, ignoring Zhou Yuanjing's startled and angry reaction, seized him, confiscated his official seal, and escorted him out.

Yang Hao gave further instructions, walked into the main hall holding the two official seals, and came before Wei Fufeng.

"My lord, these are the official seals, and the rest will be sent to Tanzhou," Yang Hao respectfully handed over the seals, reporting cryptically.

Wei Fufeng took the official seals, looked at them, and nodded with satisfaction. He casually handed the Guizhou Prefect official seal to Yang Hao. He had no intention of letting Zhou Yuanjing live, but he could not commit murder in Guizhou.

Zhou Yuanjing's greed and pedantry also made Wei Fufeng find it quite laughable.

Having smoothly seized the administrative seat of Guiguan, Wei Fufeng used his father's name to assume office as the Guiguan Observation Commissioner.

His intention was to mask the fact of the Marquis of Fufeng's southward invasion as much as possible, using Wei Zhaodu's reputation to win over the hearts of the people. The lingering prestige of the Great Tang was still useful.

On the very day he occupied Linggui County, Wei Fufeng dispatched troops to take over the other counties, replacing all county magistrates and garrison commanders with Southern Sichuan military officials. The original garrison troops and officials were escorted to Linggui County and placed under control.

At the same time, he sent messengers carrying official documents to notify the prefects of all prefectures under the jurisdiction of Guiguan, ordering them to express their recognition of the new Guiguan Observation Commissioner.

Eight days later, the prefects of the other twelve prefectures all sent men to express their recognition—just recognition, which did not touch upon their fundamental interests.

Within eight days, Wei Fufeng also completed the establishment of the Guiguan military administration. By absorbing the local population, the military strength of the administration reached ten thousand. Unfortunately, the provisions for the greater part of this ten-thousand-strong force needed to be transported in from outside.

Guizhou was too poor; the government treasuries were empty, and military pay had been in arrears for a long time. No wonder the garrison troops were willing to surrender without a fight.

After the prefects of the twelve prefectures replied with their recognition, Wei Fufeng did not need to dispatch troops on a punitive expedition. He led an army of ten thousand combat troops out of Linggui County, heading southeast along the Lijiang River, passing through Yangshuo County, and entering Zhaozhou under the jurisdiction of Guiguan.

The Prefect of Zhaozhou was greatly startled and wisely came out of the city in person to welcome him.

Wei Fufeng was merely a passerby. He received the Prefect of Zhaozhou at the military camp outside the city, pacified him somewhat, and sent him back.

After camping outside the city for a night, he resumed his march, passing through Zhaozhou and Fuzhou, and arriving at Wuzhou, which was under the jurisdiction of the Lingnan Military Governor.

Wuzhou was situated at the confluence of three rivers—the Xunjiang, Guijiang, and Xijiang rivers—and could be said to be the gateway to Lingnan.

In Wuzhou, Wei Fufeng encountered his first strong enemy resistance: the garrison forces of Liu Qian, the Prefect of Fengzhou.

Liu Qian, the Prefect of Fengzhou, had a blood relation with Wei Fufeng. Liu Qian's wife was of the Wei clan, and Liu Qian's rise to prominence had leveraged the assistance of the Wei clan.

Liu Qian's father had once served as the Changshi of Chaozhou, but in reality, the post of Changshi held little actual power.

Therefore, Liu Qian's background was merely that of an ordinary official family.

When Liu Qian came of age, his father secured him the position of a fang-general in the Guangzhou Governor's Mansion. A fang-general was a low-ranking military officer who basically could not control military power.