Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight

Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight

Xiao Zhen led 50,000 Southern Camp cavalry and set off on the eighth day of the first lunar month, arriving in Hezhou on the eighteenth day.

The defending general of Hezhou was Pei Pingyuan, who had been recommended by Xie Jian back in the day. He was considered a renowned general of the previous dynasty, though his reputation was not as great as Qin Sizhu, the former main general of Hezhou, because he had always served as Xie Jian’s deputy.

The 50,000 cavalry went to set up camp and rest, while Xiao Zhen called several of his top generals to discuss military matters in the tent.

Xiao Zhen: "What is the troop strength across the river, and who is the main general?"

Pei Pingyuan replied, "Your Majesty, across the river, we have 60,000 naval troops led by General Lu Yi, 60,000 infantry led by General Pan Yong, and 10,000 cavalry led by General Dong Qian."

Xiao Yan sneered, "That former blacksmith actually managed to escape to the Ling Kingdom."

Fan Zhao had committed treason, and Wei Qi and Lu Gong, two elders from Jizhou, had sentenced Fan Zhao and his nine tribes to extermination. Pan Yong and his father, Pan Dai, were among those listed, but they escaped from Hanzhou and Jiangzhou during the Yong'an era. Wanted notices had been posted outside the cities in the northern regions for several years without any leads.

However, Xiao Zhen had already learned about the whereabouts of Pan Yong and his son through secret agents in the Ling Kingdom.

Pan Yong and his son fled in the tenth month of the first year of Yong'an, and by the summer of the second year of Yong'an, they appeared before the Ling Emperor, expressing their willingness to serve him.

Because of this, the civil and military officials of the Ling Kingdom were divided into two factions. One faction resented Pan Yong because he had once killed Qin Sizhu, seized the military power of Hezhou, and lured the Ling Kingdom’s 90,000 elite soldiers into a trap, resulting in their deaths. They advised the Ling Emperor to execute Pan Yong to avenge their fallen soldiers. The other faction, however, believed that Pan Yong was a talented and brave general and urged the Ling Emperor to give him an important position.

The Ling Emperor appreciated Pan Yong’s abilities but was hesitant due to the opposition from many officials.

At this point, Pan Yong offered to make amends and boasted that if the Ling Emperor gave him 3,000 troops, he would return 40,000 elite soldiers in three years.

Since the establishment of the Great Yu Dynasty by the Xingping Emperor, the Ling Kingdom had only launched two major wars. The first was a joint operation with the Liang Kingdom to attack the Yu Kingdom. The Liang Kingdom attacked Chang'an, while the Ling Kingdom attacked Hezhou. However, Pan Yong ambushed and killed 90,000 elite soldiers. The second war occurred after the ascension of the Xianqing Emperor, when the Ling Kingdom conspired with Huang Qilin from Qingzhou to cross the river again. Initially, things went smoothly, but they were strongly intercepted by the Huainan naval forces. Soon after, Qi Heng arrived with a large army, and the Ling Kingdom was forced to retreat, losing over 30,000 troops in the process.

In these two battles, the Ling Kingdom lost a total of 120,000 troops, all of whom were the battle-hardened elite soldiers who had survived the previous six years of fighting against the imperial troops led by Imperial Uncle Dou. Although the Ling Kingdom had hastily recruited 120,000 new soldiers to make up for the losses, these new recruits were all inexperienced and had not been tested in battle.

If Pan Yong could indeed provide 40,000 elite soldiers, it would be a significant accomplishment.

Therefore, even the civil and military officials who opposed Pan Yong’s appointment agreed to his proposal.

Pan Yong was indeed capable. By this time, it was difficult to recruit soldiers from the common people’s households unless one was completely indifferent to public sentiment. Thus, Pan Yong set his sights on the Ling Kingdom’s major concern—the bandits and mountain people who occupied nearly sixty counties in southwest Yangzhou, southeast Luzhou, and northwest Minzhou.

This mountainous region had been a refuge for local people and large clans fleeing the chaos of war. The clans funded and organized the mining of the mountains to forge weapons, and the young men among the mountain people volunteered to train in martial arts. Over time, they were seen as militias by the mountain people but as bandits by the Ling Emperor.

These mountain people only wanted to live in peace and security. Even though they had their own forces, they did not cause trouble in nearby villages and towns. They simply cleared and farmed flat areas in the mountains. They refused to pay taxes to the Ling Kingdom’s government or send young men for labor service. When the government sent troops to suppress them, they resisted. When the government left them alone, both sides coexisted peacefully.

When Han Zongping declared himself emperor, the Lu clan had only been emperors for six or seven years. They were busy fighting the northern imperial troops and consolidating support within the Ling Kingdom, so they never had the chance to truly suppress the mountain people and bandits. After losing 120,000 troops in two wars with the Yu Kingdom, the Ling Kingdom was even less capable of suppressing the bandits. Instead, they focused on recruiting new soldiers and guarding against potential disturbances from the mountain bandits.

Pan Yong actually took on this difficult task.

Pan Yong first cleared out the bandits in Huizhou.

Following a strategy of diplomacy before force, Pan Yong sent a letter of surrender to the bandits. When they refused, he took advantage of their complacency and led his troops to raze their crops and homes. With no harvest and no shelter, the mountain people had no choice but to leave the mountains. Pan Yong then took over with his official troops, classifying the elderly, women, and children as civilians and providing them with land and grain. The young men were recruited into his forces, receiving military salaries.

In this way, over the course of more than two years, Pan Yong gathered 40,000 bandits to serve under him. Meanwhile, the remaining 40,000 bandits learned from this and consolidated their forces from five or six smaller groups into one stronghold in the most fertile mountain area. They stationed troops to guard the mountain paths, preventing any surprise attacks from the government forces.

When Pan Yong learned of this, instead of confronting these 40,000 bandits directly, he took his 40,000 elite soldiers to report back to the Ling Emperor. With the fall of the Liang Kingdom and the looming threat to the Ling Kingdom, Pan Yong was successfully given an important position by the Ling Emperor.

Xiao Yan: "Your Majesty, they have 130,000 troops, and we have 130,000 as well. Why wait? Let’s attack!"

Xiao Zhen: "Prime Minister Song has already prepared the letter of surrender. We should first send an envoy to meet with the Ling Emperor. If he is willing to surrender, it will be a meritorious deed.

My cavalry need to rest, and we also need to transport supplies from Yizhou to Qianzhou. There is no rush."

Ling Kingdom.

As early as the fourth year of Yong'an, after the fall of the Liang Kingdom, the Ling Emperor moved the capital from Jinling, situated along the river, to the affluent region of Qiantang, south of Yangzhou. He did this to avoid the threat of Xiao Zhen advancing with his 350,000 imperial troops across the river to menace the capital.

On the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, Xiao Zhen's envoy met with the Ling Emperor, attempting to persuade him to surrender.

The founding Ling Emperor had passed away many years ago, and the new emperor was already in his forties. His hurried move to Qiantang showed that this emperor lacked true courage.

It was said that after surrendering, Xiao Zhen was willing to grant him the title of Marquis of Qiantang, with the title to be inherited by his descendants. The Ling Emperor was indeed somewhat tempted.

There were also civil officials advising him to surrender.

The water force commander, Lu Yi, who was the brother of the Ling Emperor, said, "Your Majesty, the Wei Kingdom has deployed 300,000 troops. Our Ling Kingdom also has a strong force of 300,000 troops and the advantage of terrain. After engagement, we have at least a 60% chance of victory. Why would we even consider surrendering? Sure, the title of Marquis of Qiantang sounds good, but once you lose your army, the Wei Emperor could find a pretext to strip you of your title. Rather than suffer that humiliation, we should fight with all our strength. If we win, you remain the monarch of a kingdom."

Pan Yong, who had returned with Xiao Zhen's envoy, chimed in, "Your Majesty, what the Prince has said is true. I have known the Wei Emperor for many years and understand his character well. He will never tolerate someone else having power near him. As long as Your Majesty remains in Ling territory, there is an opportunity to rally the people and rise in rebellion to restore the kingdom. The Wei Emperor is extremely cautious and would never allow a potential threat to exist."

The Ling Emperor was swayed by their words but worried, "I'm afraid we are no match for the Wei Kingdom. Yangzhou, Luzhou, and Jingnan have always had heavy troops stationed and might be able to hold out against the Wei army for some time. In Jiaozhou, there were originally only 30,000 weak troops, and the additional 40,000 were naval forces transferred from Minzhou. It will be difficult to withstand the attack of the 60,000 elite troops from Qianzhou. If Jiaozhou falls, Jingnan, Luzhou, and even the capital will face attacks from all sides."

Pan Yong said, "Your Majesty, I have a strategy that, if successful, will increase Jiaozhou's forces by 40,000 troops."

The Ling Emperor said, "Speak quickly!"

Pan Yong said, "The 40,000 bandit troops within Fuzhou. The court has always mainly focused on suppressing these bandits, with occasional attempts at appeasement. Therefore, the bandits have been unwilling to submit. If Your Majesty sends an envoy, offering the bandit leader the title of King of Jiaozhou, then Jiaozhou will become the fiefdom of the bandit leader. Why would he just sit back and let the Qianzhou army take his territory?"

The Ling Emperor was delighted upon hearing this, "That’s a brilliant two-for-one plan. If the 40,000 bandits from Fuzhou can repel the Qianzhou forces, I will have both eliminated the bandit problem and gained 40,000 elite troops. Wonderful!"

The prime minister gently reminded, "Your Majesty, bandits are still bandits. Before, they only controlled the mountainous areas in Fuzhou and refused to pay taxes. Once Jiaozhou is given to them, with their bandit nature, they might demand control over all the tax revenues of Jiaozhou."

The Ling Emperor snorted, "Without their help, Jiaozhou will surely fall, and I’ll lose my throne. If I can secure the stability of my rule by using the tax revenues of Jiaozhou, what reason would I have to refuse?"

After saying this, he looked at the other civil officials, "Which of you would be willing to go to Fuzhou on my behalf? If you can persuade the bandit leader to submit to me... By the way, what is the name of that bandit leader?"

Pan Yong said, "I have always kept an eye on the Fuzhou bandits. In recent years, there has been internal strife among the bandits. Four or five bandit leaders wanted to be the chief, but last year, a man named Wu Rong finally united all the bandits and proclaimed himself the Mountain Lord."

The Ling Emperor said, "Good. Any minister who can convince Wu Rong to join us will receive a great reward!"