Chinese New Year

Chapter 1485 Zhang Tang Enters the Capital
The cold wind sweeps across the land, bending all the grasses; in the blink of an eye, another harsh winter has arrived.

At the end of October, a large group appeared in the southern suburbs of Luoyang.

The procession was small, but the oxcarts stretched one after another to the distant horizon.

The vehicle was clearly heavily loaded, but it was unclear what cargo it carried, as it was completely covered up and could not be seen.

The convoy eventually stopped outside a manor.

The servants who had been waiting at the gate immediately stepped forward to guide the caravan through a small gate in the west wall.

In the courtyard, the family soldiers and generals, fully armored and ready for battle, stood at attention.

The retainers took paper and pen and copied down the information one by one.

The crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed: it turned out to be Zhang Shuo, the military governor of Yangjiang, Jiaozhou, and Guangzhou.

Only someone of this status deserves to possess so much wealth. But—

Hey, a warrior is a warrior, too ostentatious. Zhang Shuo has probably been wielding the power of life and death in Jiangnan for too long. In the past ten years, his word has been law, and he can kill anyone below the rank of two thousand shi. Over time, he has developed this arrogant and domineering attitude.

Some people thought darkly that Zhang Daniu would suffer a major setback sooner or later. Wasn't there a servant of the Crown Prince passing by just now? Sooner or later, the Crown Prince would find out.

The Zhang family naturally didn't care about what others thought.

The head of the family, with his status, has no need for corruption or bribery; he has countless legitimate means to acquire wealth. Some deals are different no matter who you do them for; why not let Zhang Du's men do them? Just please, Zhang Du's subordinates won't deliberately cause trouble.

After Zhang Shuo returned home calmly, his wife, Wang, immediately came to greet him and asked about his well-being.

Time has passed, and Zhang Shuo's status at home is no longer the same as before.

Twenty years ago, the Wang family daughter of Donghai was fatally attractive to him, and he was willing to go bankrupt to marry her. But now, the Wang family daughter has aged and lost her beauty, the Donghai Wang family is in turmoil, and Zhang Shuo has held power for many years, so his mindset has changed.

He gave his wife a few perfunctory words, then picked up the sharkskin knife sheath from the oxcart, glanced at it casually, and threw it back into the cart.

The Hepu pearls were large and round, covered with a damp cloth. Zhang Shuo removed the cloth, casually picked up a few pearls, looked at them, chuckled, and put them back.

The coral was carefully moved back. It was originally placed in a conspicuous place, but after Wang looked at it, she instructed the servants to take it to the study.

Zhang Shuo wanted to say something, but then he got too lazy to say anything.

Wang Kai of the Donghai Wang clan once competed with Shi Chong in wealth and was punished, which led to this situation.

But he is different.

For many years, Master Shao has been creating opportunities for them to get rich. First, there was Wang Que'er who had been in charge of Sichuan for many years, and later Zhang Daniu who controlled Jianye. It was all a tacit understanding. What's there to be afraid of! Master Shao is the most generous.

"Husband, let's go back inside and rest for a while," Wang said, walking over and taking Zhang Shuo's arm.

She had just seen two women from Jiangnan who had returned with her husband. They were delicate and timid, like they were made of water. However, she didn't know what to say, so she could only pretend to be generous and greet them warmly, arranging accommodations for them.

Seeing that her husband had some free time, she went up to him and persuaded him to go back to the house to rest.

Zhang Shuo returned to the main hall and sat down at a leisurely pace.

Tea and dried fruit were already laid out to the side, and the children lined up to come over and pay their respects one by one.

After a flurry of activity, Zhang Shuo sighed with satisfaction and said, "That's more like it."

"It was all earned by my husband through hard work. I am truly fortunate to have married into the Zhang family," Wang said with a charming smile.

Zhang Shuo's expression turned serious, and he said, "Without Master Shao, where would I be today? When I was still Zhang Daniu, who would recognize me? They probably would have just treated me like a dog on the street. Today, I am in charge of Jianye under the name of Zhang Shuo, and the people of Wu say that I have stopped children from crying at night. This is really an overstatement. This is all thanks to Master Shao."

Wang covered her mouth and laughed, "We're all family, why be like this?"

"You ignorant woman!" Zhang Shuo said unhappily, "So what if I killed someone in Jiangnan? So what if I made money? As long as I am still Master Shao's man, Master Shao will just laugh it off. Don't talk nonsense at home from now on."

Zhang Shuo flicked his sleeves and headed towards the residence of the Tao family woman from Moling whom he had brought home.

Wang stood there blankly, her eyes red.

Zhang Daniu, who once pounced on her like a dog, swearing oaths and promising to go bankrupt for her, now can't even be bothered to look at her. That's how heartless a warrior can be!
Was the woman from the Tao family of Moling so precious? They've been sleeping together for years, and she's still so impatient?
And that woman surnamed Dai, with her alluring appearance, she's clearly not a good person.

After wallowing in self-pity for a while, Madam Wang calmed down and began instructing her servants to prepare the things she would need for her audience with the emperor the next day.

Although the couple had argued, they still slept in the same bed. Since her husband was in trouble, she couldn't run away from him and had to help him.

Furthermore, after her husband meets the emperor, there might be other arrangements, so she should prepare in advance.

Entering the Council of State is impossible; as long as Wang Que'er remains there, no other martial artists will have a chance. Perhaps she will still be sent to another town; this time, she will have to go with her.

******
On the first day of the eleventh lunar month, Zhang Shuo and Tang Jian, as the chief officials of the outer town, attended the grand court assembly on the first day of the month.

Afterwards, the two were indeed led to Tianyuan Pool, where His Majesty often stayed, for a dialogue. The scene of the dialogue was somewhat eerie.

Zhang and Tang sat for a long time until Shao Xun finally caught a fish, at which point they finally got a chance to speak.

“In a few more days, once the lake freezes over, we’ll probably only be able to fish by catching fish by breaking through the ice.” Shao Xun smiled, sat down facing the two of them, and then looked at Zhang Shuo, saying, “Da Niu, I’ve called you here today to ask you something.”

"I will speak frankly and without reservation," Zhang Shuo said, sitting up straight.

“Back then, Zhuge Daoming’s Jingzhou army still had 40,000 veterans and new soldiers. You sent 6,000 men south to Guangzhou. What happened to these men?” Shao Xun asked.

"Later, I divided the defense zones and stationed 3,000 soldiers in Nanhai County, 2,000 soldiers in Hepu, and 1,000 soldiers in Guilin. They were all given good land and water to cultivate." Zhang Shuo replied, "Now, many years have passed, and some soldiers have retired due to old age or died of illness. Their families have taken their place. If they have no family members, the county where they are stationed will send able-bodied men to fill the vacancies and train them rigorously."

Shao Xun nodded, then asked, "How is Nanhai Town?"

“The South Sea Garrison currently has over 4,200 soldiers and 43 ships of various sizes. They have been training for years, and while they may not be elite, they are certainly not a weak force,” Zhang Shuo replied. “If Your Majesty sends them into battle, there should be no major problems.”

"How did you know I wanted to send them into battle?" Shao Xun asked.

Zhang Shuo gave an awkward smile and said, "I only had a guess in my mind."

Shao Xun then looked at Tang Jian and said, "You are in charge of money and grain. Now tell me if the grain stored in Jiaozhou and Guangzhou can support the army."

"I wonder how many people Your Majesty intends to transfer?" Tang Jian asked.

After pondering for a moment, Shao Xun said, "We will have 3,000 hereditary soldiers in Yangzhou and Jiangzhou, 3,000 hereditary soldiers in Guangzhou, and another 3,000 barbarian soldiers recruited from Jiaozhou and Guangzhou. We will also have 6,000 naval troops from Shitou City and Nanhai Town, for a total of 15,000 troops on land and sea."

"How does Your Majesty plan to fight?" Tang Jian asked.

"First, we'll cross the sea to Jiaozhi and Rinan, and then mobilize them," Shao Xun said. "Jiaozhou also has local troops; we can mobilize 5,000 of them. Although their fighting strength is weak, they can serve as auxiliary troops without any problem."

Tang Jian thought for a moment and said, "Supporting 20,000 men is easy. But I dare to suggest that of these 20,000 men, only 6,000 are old soldiers from Jingzhou who are capable of fighting. The barbarian soldiers can only serve as auxiliary troops. I can't say how much combat power the navy will have after landing."

Shao Xun frowned, thinking to himself that if there were only six thousand soldiers capable of fighting, it was indeed a bit too few, after all, Fan Wen was said to have fifty thousand men.

"Then we'll draw a few more Imperial Guards and palace soldiers," Shao Xun decided.

Zhang and Tang's expressions changed.

Years ago, when the Silver Spear Army marched south to attack Jianye, countless soldiers fell ill during the sweltering summer heat. The Imperial Guards and local militia were certainly formidable fighters, but once they fell ill and were bedridden, they were utterly useless.

However, judging from the emperor's intentions, it seems that some troops must be transferred south.

"How many troops has Your Majesty withdrawn?" Zhang Shuo asked.

"We will send 1,800 soldiers and 600 imperial guards, along with 300 mixed-race cavalry from each of Bingzhou and Yongzhou, for a total of 3,000 infantry and cavalry, to march south to Jiaozhou," Shao Xun said.

Zhang Shuo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This was alright; there weren't many people, so the losses were manageable.

Although he didn't quite approve of sending cavalry south, since the emperor had made the decision, he had nothing to say. Besides, six hundred cavalrymen could indeed be very effective if used properly, provided their horses were still alive.

"Such a force of nine thousand soldiers, all seasoned veterans, should be able to reclaim the lost territory of Rinan, right?" Shao Xun said. "What do you two think is the best time to send troops?"

"In late autumn, the army can assemble in Guangzhou, and after winter, they can march south to Jiaozhou in batches to prepare for battle," Zhang Shuo offered his sound advice.

Shao Xun did not object, because he believed it was the right thing to do.

During the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty, there was a military campaign called "winter defense" against the Nanzhao Kingdom. This involved drawing troops from various vassal states to the south to guard key locations and prepare for an attack from Nanzhao. This was because winters were not as hot and humid, and even the locals preferred to fight at this time. The famous 800 garrison soldiers of Guilin were sent south for winter defense. As a result, their service period was three years, then another three years, and then another year after that. They could no longer bear it and it led to the Pang Xun Rebellion.

Cavalry should also be used as much as possible in winter.

He remembered that during the rebellion of Nong Zhigao in the Northern Song Dynasty, the rebel army was easily defeated by the more than 400 cavalrymen brought by the Western Army, demonstrating their astonishing power.

In the south, cavalrymen are invincible as long as they find an opportunity to charge, because they have never received proper training in defending against cavalry with infantry.

"It's settled then," Shao Xun said. "You will hand over the seals tomorrow and be assigned to other posts."

"Yes," Zhang Shuo and Tang Jian replied in unison.

Shao Xun didn't tell them where they were going, because it involved a series of personnel changes, such as how to arrange things after Zhuge Hui entered the capital. It involved a lot of people, and he still had to weigh things carefully. Obviously, Zhang Shuo would most likely be sent to guard Guanzhong, but whether it would be Chang'an or not remained to be seen.

Tang Jian's whereabouts are clearer, on the contrary.

Xi Jian fell seriously ill in Jizhou and requested to resign from his post, which Shao Xun granted.

Tang Jian is from Hebei, so it would be very appropriate for him to go back and take over as the governor of Jizhou.

Everything needs to be arranged carefully, because it may ultimately involve a major reshuffle of the political affairs committee personnel.

(End of this chapter)