Volume Two: The Lord and His Grandson Chapter 97: The Hidden Move

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Li Maozhen, the military governor of Fengxiang, received three imperial edicts. One reprimanded him for being greedy despite already controlling Fengzhou and Xingzhou, ordering him to continue fulfilling his duties as deputy commander to suppress the rebel forces of Yang Shouliang. Another edict appointed his son as deputy military governor of Xichuan, while the position of military governor of Xichuan was reassigned to Wei Zhaodu. The third edict reinstated the Longjian military governorship, overseeing Lizhou, Jianzhou, Mianzhou, Longzhou, and Wenzhou, with Li Maozhen’s recommendation for the office. Thus, his occupied territories were divided into three separate military governorships.

Li Maozhen was displeased with the appointment of the Xichuan military governor but had no choice but to accept it for the time being. He assumed the Longjian military governorship himself while still holding the office of military governor of Longyou, thereby concurrently managing three military governorships.

With the court’s official sanction, Li Maozhen held legitimate authority over his territories. He ordered the garrison forces in Jianzhou to allow the imperial troops advancing south through the Jianmen Pass, and commanded Xichuan to dispatch twenty thousand soldiers to assist the imperial forces in delivering a decisive blow.

Messages sent down the Jialing River arrived swiftly; Wei Fufeng received the imperial edicts only five days later. After reading them, he carelessly tossed them aside, refusing to pay them any heed or even pretend to comply.

Wei Fufeng did not dispatch troops; instead, the military governor of Wutai, who occupied Zhongzhou, sent five thousand troops north to join the fight. In reality, their primary aim was to profit through capturing prisoners, as in the age of cold weapons, population size was a fundamental measure of power.

The troops of Yang Shouliang, besieging the county seat of Santai, suddenly found themselves surrounded on all sides. Rumors of Yang’s dismissal spread through the ranks, along with news of several armies advancing, shaking the morale and causing panic.

Before the imperial forces even entered Santai’s territory, there were already instances of commanders defecting with their troops.

Most of Yang Shouliang’s backbone came from the Shen Ce Army, military officers dispatched by Yang Fuguang to reinforce the Xingyuan garrison and to keep Yang Shouliang in check.

After Yang Fuguang and Yang Shouliang were dismissed, the Shen Ce Army officers were the first to harbor doubts. Although they remained nominally loyal to the court, many secretly sent envoys to the imperial commander to ascertain the situation and seek allegiance.

Within just three days, over twenty thousand of Yang Shouliang’s troops defected. Even Wei Fufeng, stationed in Rongzhou, was approached by envoys from Li Ziqi, the marching scribe under Yang Shouliang, requesting defection.

Li Ziqi also hailed from the Shen Ce Army and commanded some forces within Yang’s army, though most of his troops had been lost in Jinzhou. Several dozen key officers managed to return to Xingyuan.

Yang Shouliang’s southern assault on Dongchuan involved the conscription of numerous able-bodied men as militia.

Li Ziqi and his officers secured command of ten thousand militia soldiers and expressed gratitude to Wei Fufeng for sparing them.

Li Ziqi’s request to defect took Wei Fufeng by surprise—a fortuitous gain.

After consideration, Wei Fufeng instructed Li Ziqi to first submit to Li Shunjie, the military governor of Tianwei, suggesting that Li Shunjie might seize Kuizhou and Guizhou.

After the envoy departed, Wei Fufeng had three reasons for not allowing Li Ziqi to defect directly.

First, Li Shunjie’s participation in the assault on Xingyuan was mentioned in a letter from his grandfather, and Wei Fufeng intended to make a strategic prediction accordingly.

Second, Wei Fufeng adopted a cautious stance, wishing to avoid drawing excessive attention. The seizure of Rongzhou and Jiazhou was a normal occurrence amid the chaotic wars in Bashu; a lack of ambition would have been suspicious.

Third, Li Ziqi bringing ten thousand troops would certainly cause a stir, alerting both the court and regional powers to focus on southern Sichuan.

Wei Fufeng had learned from Jinzhou and Chang’an that public opinion still regarded southern Sichuan as an inhospitable, barbarous frontier, dismissing it with disdain.

Subjectively, Wei Fufeng coveted the fertile Chengdu Plain, but objectively, he needed to consolidate his internal situation, win over displaced peoples, train troops, stockpile provisions, fortify cities, and promote commerce.

Xichuan was a precious land but coveted by many powerful figures; internally, the court and regional military governors eyed it greedily, while externally, threats came from Tibetans and the Qiang tribes around Maozhou, a branch of the Dangxiang people. Guarding it required substantial military resources.

Wei Fufeng believed that rather than pushing into Xichuan, it was wiser to expand downstream along the great river.

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Li Ziqi’s envoy returned to Zizhou bearing a commission appointing Li Ziqi as commander. Wei Fufeng personally inscribed and affixed the seal of the military governor of southern Sichuan in the envoy’s presence.

The envoy reported on the conditions observed in Bacheng and Yuzhong cities, the livelihood of soldiers and civilians, military organization, and governance.

Hearing this, Li Ziqi’s resolve to defect to Wei Fufeng grew stronger. With the official commission, he would no longer be criticized as a fickle traitor.

Li Ziqi ordered the envoy to visit Li Shunjie, commander of imperial troops.

The envoy told Li Shunjie that Li Ziqi admired his valor and, knowing Li Shunjie to be the military governor of Zhenjiang, wished to surrender and serve as his assistant military governor.

Li Shunjie was naturally pleased. Knowing Li Ziqi also originated from the Shen Ce Army, he suspected no deceit and agreed to accept his defection, appointing him assistant military governor with his troops incorporated into Zhenjiang’s forces.

Securing Li Shunjie’s acceptance, Li Ziqi covertly persuaded other Shen Ce Army officers to surrender, gaining an alliance of five thousand troops.

Such defections were psychologically easier for Shen Ce Army officers, as no one wished to surrender to an unfamiliar southern Sichuan force.

As a result, before the battle even began, half of Yang Shouliang’s army had betrayed him openly or secretly.

Yang Shouliang, furious and fearful, understood he could no longer remain in Dongchuan. Hastily, he led his army south, intending to cross the lower Jialing River back to the southern mountain region and then north to return to Xingyuan.

Unexpectedly, during the retreat, Yang Shouliang’s adopted son Yang Zishi commanded twenty thousand rear troops to divert to Jianzhou, defecting to the Fengxiang forces.

Yang Zishi, once commander of the southern Sichuan assault on Yuzhou, was adept at adapting to shifting winds to seek advantage and avoid harm.

His betrayal further destabilized Yang Shouliang’s army, which suffered continuous desertions.

Li Ziqi also wished to flee but, trapped within Yang Shouliang’s central army, he could only secretly order his subordinates to depart first, feigning anger to deceive Yang Shouliang.

However, crossing the Jialing River, Li Ziqi and his guards seized the opportunity to escape by boat.

Reaching the lower Jialing’s western bank, Li Ziqi gazed toward the now invisible forces of Yang Shouliang crossing the river, bitterly smiling at the pitiful sight of a fallen tree scattering its monkeys.

Li Ziqi did not immediately seek out Li Shunjie but hid until the imperial forces pursued. Only then did he present himself to Li Shunjie.

Li Shunjie was elated, having just accepted nearly twenty thousand troops, officially incorporating them into the Zhenjiang military.

Though Sun Kui held the title of expedition commander, he lacked authority over Li Shunjie’s troop acquisitions.

Upon Li Ziqi’s arrival, Li Shunjie displayed humility and respect, supporting him as he paid homage.

Li Ziqi, originally a marching scribe under the military governor, could have requested a corresponding military post, but Wei Fufeng advised him to seek a lower-ranking official position.

Li Ziqi understood Wei Fufeng’s intent: a modest request would reduce suspicion, whereas applying for a marching scribe position might provoke Li Shunjie to find a pretext for elimination. Though assistants did not command troops, they wielded considerable power.

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Yang Shouliang crossed the river, fleeing back to the Bashan western region of Shannan, with only ten thousand troops remaining. Resigned, he marched north along the Bashan rice granary road to return to Xingyuan.

The imperial allied forces, unable to find boats on the Jialing’s western bank, were preoccupied assimilating defectors and prisoners and had no energy to pursue.

The Dongchuan military governor still kept the city gates tightly closed, wary of exchanging one wolf for another tiger, until Sun Kui personally arrived with a hundred guards, opening the gates to welcome the expedition commander.

The allied forces remained in Dongchuan for five days before Sun Kui urged all armies to set out in pursuit of Yang Shouliang’s forces.

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The Tongguan army marched fastest, leading with four thousand newly recruited troops, followed by the Wutai army, then the imperial, Zhenjiang, and Fengxiang armies.

Fengxiang only sent three thousand troops; the rest returned to Xichuan.

Upon leaving Jianzhou, the Wutai army slipped away back to their base in Zhongzhou, unwilling to venture far to attack Xingyuan. They had gained more than two thousand prisoners on this campaign.

Li Shunjie also hesitated to march on Xingyuan, preferring to lead his troops to the Three Gorges and take control of Kuizhou.

Sun Kui could not agree, sternly urging Li Shunjie northward, promising to send troops to assist in governing Kuizhou once Xingyuan was captured.

Li Shunjie found this acceptable, still favoring an official’s life in Chang’an.

The seventy-thousand-strong allied army marched grandly northward toward Xingyuan.

Yang Shouliang, having fled back to Xingyuan, conferred with Yang Fuguang and trusted aides, concluding the city could not be held long. They abandoned Xingyuan, leading thirty thousand soldiers and civilians north along the Ziwu Road to seek refuge with Li Keyong, military governor of Hedong.

The allied forces easily captured Xingyuan’s city, and Sun Kui deeply regretted his earlier misjudgment. He consulted Li Shunjie about pursuing Yang Shouliang’s army.

Li Shunjie refused, arguing that Yang Shouliang’s escape north via the Ziwu Road meant he was seeking refuge with Hedong’s governor. Pursuing him to the Yellow River risked antagonizing Hedong troops, leaving Li Shunjie unable to justify his actions to the emperor.

Sun Kui reluctantly dispatched the marching scribe Wang Yan with twenty thousand troops to accompany Li Shunjie south again, while he remained in Xingyuan to manage affairs and report to the court.

The most critical report was the alliance formed with Dongchuan’s military governor Gu Yanhui for mutual offense and defense.

Li Shunjie led nearly fifty thousand troops, moving south from Mancang Road to Bazhong, sending envoys to Yuzhou to request reinforcements.

Although the army was large in number, their equipment was poor, and Li Shunjie considered them a disorderly rabble.

Wei Fufeng did not receive Li Shunjie’s envoys personally, instead sending the elder Feng to meet them. They agreed to lend twenty thousand troops on one condition: to allow trade and permit southern Sichuan forces free passage through Kuizhou.

The envoy returned; Li Shunjie consented, and Yuzhou sent twenty thousand troops.

These twenty thousand spear infantry, of average equipment, were commanded by Commander Zhao Yidou and marched to Quzhou, proceeding through to Tongzhou to join Li Shunjie’s forces.

Observing the southern Sichuan troops, Li Shunjie was displeased, thinking no wonder they dared not send forces to Dongchuan’s battle—they lacked proper armaments and could only endure in barbarian borderlands.

The seventy-thousand-strong army marched grandly into Kaizhou, under Wutai military governor’s jurisdiction. The Wutai governor, having received no prior notice, could only watch cautiously as the army passed.

Beyond Kaizhou lay Kuizhou; the massive army headed straight for Yun’an County.

Jingnan military governor Cheng Rui garrisoned twenty thousand troops in Kuizhou, signaling the importance of the region. Five thousand troops guarded Yun’an’s salt wells, and fifteen thousand were stationed in Fengjie County under Kuizhou’s administration.

Facing the approaching seventy-thousand troops, the commander of Yun’an’s salt wells chose to retreat.

Li Shunjie’s forces seized Yun’an County without bloodshed, establishing a camp and ordering his subordinates to take control of the county.