Volume Two: Lord and Grandson Chapter 65: Turmoil Within and Without

Wei Fufeng beckoned his Fifth Uncle aside, speaking with a hint of respect, “I ask that you swiftly pacify the mountain bandits and absorb them to expand the army of Jincheng.”

“Naturally. To tell you the truth, I suffered a defeat attacking Baiyun Fort. Now I will go and subdue those over a thousand bandits,” Fifth Uncle replied, arching his brow with resentment.

Wei Fufeng nodded, then shared his strategy for dealing with Yang Fuggong, warning that should it succeed, Yang Fuggong’s power in Hanzhong would likely strike at Jinzhou.

Fifth Uncle was startled by this, but nodded his understanding and immediately led his troops back to Jinzhou under cover of night, determined to suppress the bandits and strengthen his forces.

...

In the city of Jinzhou, at the headquarters of the Campaign Commissioner, Commissioner Zhang Jun had just seen off Sun Kui.

Sun Kui had set out for Luzhou with ten thousand men, five thousand of whom were his original troops.

When Li Xi arrived, Zhang Jun assigned him five thousand soldiers, dispatching him to Shizhou to relieve Sun Kui.

A few days later, a swift courier from Li Xian arrived at the headquarters in Jinzhou, delivering a letter. Upon hearing it was from Li Xi’s son, Zhang Jun treated the matter with due gravity and opened the letter at once.

After reading, Zhang Jun’s face shifted with uncertainty; the proposal in the letter resonated deeply with him, yet he was puzzled why Li Xi’s son would send such an urgent suggestion. Soon, however, he understood—Li Xi having come to Hedong, his son would naturally be concerned and wish for Hedong’s campaign to succeed.

Zhang Jun pondered, then wrote a memorial to be urgently delivered to the Emperor in Chang’an. He attributed the suggestion to Li Xi, declaring himself, as Prime Minister and Campaign Commissioner, merely a supporting voice, so as to avoid suspicion of manipulating military authority.

After the messenger departed, Zhang Jun sent another letter to Sun Kui, explaining the reasons and requesting that Sun Kui slow his march for two days or return to Chang’an. If the Emperor did not approve, Sun Kui could then continue to Luzhou.

Upon receiving the letter on the road, Sun Kui judged that eliminating Yang Fuggong was more important, as it would allow him to take over rear logistics—a crucial factor for the imperial army’s victory in Hedong. Thus, Sun Kui ordered his troops to turn back.

Sun Kui’s about-face nearly drove Li Cunxiao, Hedong’s foremost warrior, to spit blood in frustration. Having suffered a heavy loss in an ambush at Shilou Mountain, losing most of his elite cavalry, Li Cunxiao had stationed a thousand horsemen in ambush at Daohuang Ridge, awaiting his “enemy” Sun Kui’s passage to Luzhou—only to see him suddenly turn back.

...

In the Hall of Yan Ying, Daming Palace, Emperor Zhaozong paced, brows furrowed, weighing his options, Zhang Jun’s memorial in hand.

Zhang Jun detailed how the soldiers of Hedong, plagued by hunger, were demoralized, and that traitors in league with the enemy threatened disaster should war break out.

He wrote that Sun Kui’s five thousand men were largely free from Yang Fuggong’s influence, and could return to intimidate Yang’s faction in Chang’an. He urged the Emperor to strip Yang of his military command, sever the traitors’ support, and place logistics under Sun Kui’s control.

“It seems feasible,” Zhaozong decided. The return of five thousand men gave him the resolve to confiscate Yang Fuggong’s military power.

The Emperor decreed Sun Kui’s return, appointing Xu Yanruo as Military Commissioner of Zhaoyi Army, sending him to Hedong to assume command. Xu Yanruo, a Vice-Minister of Revenue, hailed from a line of Tang dynasty ministers.

When the imperial edict reached Hedong, Sun Kui’s forces were encountered in Wenxi County, Jiangzhou.

Receiving the decree, Sun Kui quickened his march back to Chang’an. Morale soared among his five thousand troops, and in just five days they entered Chang’an by the Tonghua Gate, proceeding straight to Daming Palace, entering through the Danfeng Gate, quickly taking control of the outer court’s defenses and garrisoning the palace.

That same day, Emperor Zhaozong appointed Sun Kui again as Prefect of Jingzhao, with additional rank as Vice-Minister of War, charged with Jingzhao’s security, and, as Deputy Campaign Commissioner to Hedong, put in charge of logistics.

...

The imperial edicts listed numerous crimes of Chief Minister Yang Fuggong, publicizing them throughout the court and the realm. Yang was dismissed from his positions as Chief Minister and Commander of the Divine Strategy Army, and ordered to leave Chang’an for an appointment as Military Supervisor in Fengxiang Prefecture.

The Emperor’s confiscation of Yang’s military authority struck the court like thunder, startling and surprising many factions—some rejoiced, others were alarmed, while some observed in silence.

Many believed Yang Fuggong would not submit quietly to his dismissal.

Upon hearing the news, Wei Fufeng acted swiftly, sending agents to Hanzhong and Bashu to timely spread word of Yang’s removal. He also dispatched warnings to southern Sichuan, alerting the military to impending rebellion from Yang Shouliang and rallying their morale with appeals to righteousness, emphasizing the enemy could not endure a prolonged fight.

Jincheng also sprang into action. Armed with newly received equipment, the Jincheng Army launched a fierce campaign against the mountain bandits. Superior weapons rendered them invincible.

Their first victory was the capture of Baiyun Fort, where they killed over three hundred bandits and captured more than a thousand. The strongest three hundred were conscripted into the Jincheng Army; the rest were registered as civilians in Xicheng County.

With Yang Fuggong dismissed, the bandits in Jinzhou either surrendered or fled. As a result, ten thousand were registered as “good citizens.”

The Jincheng Army expanded to three thousand strong. Fifth Uncle skillfully won over the troops, strictly enforcing discipline while rewarding bravery and providing generous compensation for the wounded and fallen.

Yang Fuggong, in anger, petitioned to retire home, attempting to force the Emperor to reverse his decision.

But the Emperor responded by stripping Yang of all official posts, leaving him only the honorary title of Grand General.

Frustrated, Yang Fuggong could only remain in his official residence in Zhaohua Ward, seemingly accepting the loss of power.

Meanwhile, the new Zhaoyi Army Commissioner Xu Yanruo and the eunuch supervisor Han Guifan arrived in Jinzhou.

The next day, leading ten thousand imperial troops to Luzhou, they passed through Daohuang Ridge, where they were ambushed by Li Cunxiao’s cavalry, who had waited in hiding for days.

Faced with the sudden onslaught of countless Hedong cavalry, the imperial troops broke and scattered without a fight.

Seeing disaster, Xu Yanruo shed his purple robe, donning only light scale armor, and escaped with a few hundred guards amid the fleeing soldiers, while Han Guifan was captured.

Xu Yanruo returned to Jinzhou with a handful of men and reported his failure to the court.

Soon after, the captive Han Guifan was released, bringing back Li Keyong’s petition for redress as he returned to Chang’an from Jinzhou.

When Emperor Zhaozong received Li Keyong’s petition, Hedong’s main force had just routed the Military Commissioner of Youzhou in the north, inflicting over ten thousand elite casualties and forcing him to flee back to Youzhou.

Hedong’s main force, returning south, saw Li Cunxiao, after annihilating a Zhaoyi Army of ten thousand, escort the captives back to Taiyuan, then march south to battle the Xuanwu Army. Together with General Kang Junli, he defeated them, capturing ten thousand and recapturing Luzhou.

In August and September, the wars in Hedong shifted rapidly. After the defeats of Youzhou in the north and Xuanwu in the south, Li Keyong’s main force returned to Taiyuan for three days’ rest before marching on Shizhou.

In Shizhou, Li Xi was thrown into a panic by scouts’ reports, unsure what to do. His advisors urged withdrawal to Hexi.

Li Xi hesitated, fearing the stigma of desertion, and considered heading south to Jinzhou.

His son Li Xian vehemently objected, citing Xu Yanruo’s example as a warning—the southern route was certain to be harried by Hedong cavalry. He recommended withdrawing to Hexi to wait and see; besides, the five thousand troops sent to Jinzhou would have little effect on the imperial army’s actual strength.

Unable to overrule his son, and shaken by Xu Yanruo’s fate, Li Xi ordered a withdrawal to Hexi with his five thousand men.

...

To prevent chaos and loss of control during the retreat, Li Xian advised his father to announce the withdrawal only once the troops were already en route. Li Xi agreed.

By the time Hedong’s vanguard reached Lishi County, the five thousand imperial troops had already crossed the Yellow River and encamped in Sui Prefecture on the western bank.

When Li Keyong received the news, he inquired in surprise about the officers among the five thousand, as he doubted Li Xi’s military prowess. Yet he found no suspicious officers among them.

In early October, Li Keyong launched a campaign to retake the lost eastern prefectures—Xingzhou, Zizhou, and Mingzhou—dealing a crushing defeat to Zhu Wen’s Xuanwu forces. Afterwards, his main army moved to Fenzhou, targeting the allied imperial forces stationed in Jinzhou.

By November, the weather in Hedong was bitterly cold. Though the allied troops received regular rations, morale remained low.

After the defeat of the Xuanwu Army, Campaign Commissioner Zhang Jun was left in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat.

Thus, the date for the offensive was repeatedly delayed.

At last, the Hedong Army, having rested, took the initiative, leaving Fenzhou and attacking Jinzhou. Zhang Jun had no choice but to meet them in battle at Yindi Pass.

There, nearly a hundred thousand imperial allied troops quickly fell into panic and chaos before the charging Hedong forces.

As battle was joined, the five thousand troops of the Fengxiang Commissioner on the flank suddenly fled, followed by the Huashang Commissioner Han Jian’s forces and the Funning Commissioner’s as well.

The imperial coalition disintegrated in a devastating rout. Zhang Jun, Campaign Commissioner, stared deathly pale at the onrushing Hedong army.

Such a complete collapse was beyond his reckoning; his guards rushed to spirit him away.

Thus, the months-long campaign against Hedong ended in a disastrous imperial defeat. Zhang Jun escaped with only a few hundred bodyguards, while the other allied armies suffered few losses, crossing the Yellow River safely and returning to their own strongholds.

Upon learning of the great defeat, Li Xi, fearing for his own safety, led his troops back to Chang’an from Hexi, submitting a memorial of contrition along the way, lamenting that he should not have been cowed by Xu Yanruo’s fate and should have marched south to join Zhang Jun.

...

In the Hall of Yan Ying, Daming Palace, though the hall was warm, the atmosphere was as frigid as the winter outside.

Emperor Zhaozong sat on the throne, his face as dark as ice. Many high ministers stood in attendance, with Chancellor Du Rangneng at their head, each man’s expression grave as they pondered how to manage the aftermath.

“The campaign against the traitors in Hedong has ended in defeat. What counsels have you, ministers? Speak freely and without fear,” Zhaozong offered, encouraging honest discussion despite his foul mood.

Chancellor Kong Wei stepped forward, respectfully saying, “Your Majesty, I was among those who urged this campaign against Hedong. I beg you to punish me, that the crisis may be alleviated.”

Zhaozong nodded. “I know your loyalty to the realm. For now, retire home and rest.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your boundless grace.” Kong Wei bowed deeply, then turned and departed.