Chinese New Year

Chapter 1495 Southern Affairs (Part 2)

October has arrived in the blink of an eye, and the lotus flowers in Xijia Pond in Xiangyang have withered for a long time, and the beautiful scenery is gone.

There is a tall building by the pond, overlooking the city, mountains, lakes, villages and farmland near Xiangyang. It is a truly magnificent place.

Crown Prince Shao Jin has been staying at Xijiachi for almost half a month, spending his days either reviewing documents, checking archives, or meeting with elders from prominent families in Jingzhou who come to visit him.

On October 15th, he received the first battle report from Jiaozhou: Linyi, knowing of the unusual movements in Daliang, took the initiative and besieged Lu Rong (present-day Hue, Vietnam), the capital of Rinan Commandery. Several thousand Jiaozhou soldiers marched south, but suffered a defeat and retreated to Shouling River, unable to lift the siege.

After reading it, Shao Jin immediately summoned six people—Chief Clerk Yu Liang, Left and Right Sima Yao Yizhong, Yuan Xi, Chief Clerk Lu Yan, Secretary Zao Yong, and Military Clerk Shao Zi—to discuss the matter. Attendant Gentleman Xie An, Shao Ji, and Legal Advisor Shao Lin were also present to listen in—Huan Wen was still in Tianshui and had not yet arrived.

Shao Jin circulated the battle report among everyone, and then started a discussion on how to deal with King Fan Wen of Linyi. Although they couldn't directly intervene in the command, they couldn't just ignore everything. At least they had to keep an eye on the battle situation, have discussions, and even write to Sun He to indirectly exert influence.

After the meeting began, Yu Liang took the lead without hesitation and was eager to participate.

My brother-in-law rarely talks to him about military and political matters anymore, but thankfully he can get some from his nephew.

He cleared his throat and spoke first: "What's so difficult about this? The local soldiers of Jiaozhou are not incapable of fighting, but rather unwilling to fight—"

He only said half of what he wanted to say before stopping there.

Shao Jin immediately looked at her uncle, signaling him to continue.

Yu Liang then continued, “I have heard that the troops of Jiaozhou are mostly from powerful and wealthy families, but the commanders are military officers from the prefectures and counties. With such mutual suspicion between superiors and subordinates, how can we fight? If we grant official titles and ranks to these powerful families and allow them to gather their own troops and retainers to fight against the Fan family, it will certainly not be so difficult.”

You know what, Liangzi's words do make some sense.

How can you fight when the soldiers don't know their generals and the generals don't know their soldiers? The local soldiers of Jiaozhou usually farm at home and only occasionally gather for training. Their combat effectiveness is generally average. Moreover, they have personal dependence relationships with local tyrants and barbarian chieftains and are not familiar with your court officials at all. They are pulled into battle by the military officers of the prefectures and counties, which is chaotic. As soon as the vanguard is slightly unable to hold on, the rear guard will immediately say "our army has been defeated". It is not surprising that things have turned out like this.

But this has consequences...

Crown Prince Shao Jin did not immediately agree, but instead looked at Left Sima Yao Yizhong.

Yao Yizhong pondered for a moment and said, "What the Chief Clerk said makes sense, but the army is marching south one after another and has not yet engaged the enemy. It is really inappropriate to do this and that now. We should wait a little longer."

Shao Jin nodded slightly.

“Your Highness, I believe we should send an envoy south to investigate,” suggested Yuan Xi, the Right Sima.

"Where is the military supervisor?" Shao Jin nodded and asked.

He had a good impression of Yuki.

This man came from humble beginnings, but he was upright and loyal, even to his father. This did not diminish Shao Jin's admiration for him. Not to mention, General Yuan had fought in Yiyang in his early years and had once performed the heroic act of charging into battle bare-chested, earning him great renown in the army.

“The military supervisor, Ruan, should have already arrived in Jiaozhi,” Yuan Xi said.

The military supervisor was sent by Crown Prince Shao Jin. His name was Ruan Fu. Just by hearing his surname, you could tell that he was from a noble family. However, his ancestors had moved to Runan, so he could not be considered a member of the Ruan family of Chenliu.

Ruan Fu was introduced by Yu Liang. He was a scholar from Ruying with impeccable family background, which was rare in the staff of the Commissioner for the Promotion of Agriculture.

Ruan Fu's position was "military advisor," which sounds prestigious, but in the current climate where military advisors are increasingly being replaced by junior officers, the lack of a prefix in the title clearly indicates that he didn't have many responsibilities. He was either managing various miscellaneous tasks or simply acting as an advisor.

Ruan Fu was the latter, so when selecting military supervisors, he was transferred to the Jiaozhi Campaign as a military supervisor, since he had no assigned duties.

“Then send a chief clerk and several junior clerks south to Jiaozhi.” After thinking for a moment, Shao Jin added, “Just ask the military supervisor; don’t disturb Governor Sun.”

After speaking, he looked at everyone and asked, "What other strategies do you gentlemen have? Please feel free to speak."

He appeared to be speaking to everyone, but his gaze ultimately settled on Xie An.

Xie An did not hesitate and stood up, saying, "Breaking the siege is only a temporary solution. Your Highness, as the commander of this battle, should strive for long-term peace and stability to demonstrate your virtuous rule. In this regard, I have three strategies."

"The first method is to divide and weaken them. The Lin-yi Kingdom is divided into many tribes. We can send a brave debater to land at sea, secretly contact their chieftains, and offer them wealth and official titles to induce them to rebel."

"Secondly, to appease the army. Orders were issued to the rear prefectures and counties to increase the transport of grain and medicine to prevent and treat diseases. Money and grain were also allocated to provide compensation to the wounded and dead soldiers."

"Thirdly, a personal letter of encouragement. Your Highness may draft a letter to the soldiers, saying, 'I share the same food and labor with you,' and send an envoy with gold and silk to reward the troops."

"With these three strategies, suppressing the rebels will be easy."

Shao Jin was pleasantly surprised. Xie Anshi's words were always insightful and truly remarkable!
To be fair, the strategies he offered were not related to specific tactics and seemed somewhat vague. However, pointing out the direction was already quite remarkable; at worst, someone familiar with administrative affairs could be assigned to carry them out.

"Anshi is truly talented," Shao Jin praised, then gestured for him to sit down. Although his father had told him not to interfere in the war or give reckless orders, if he really did nothing and merely held a nominal position in the rear, his father would certainly not be satisfied. Therefore, he needed to strike the right balance.

He sent envoys south with letters, gold and silk, and formulated a policy of relief. Generally speaking, it was difficult for hereditary soldiers to receive relief, let alone the powerful peasant soldiers who were not even hereditary soldiers. These things were just right for him, showing the presence of the commander-in-chief without interfering with the specific war command. It can be said to be the limit of what he could do at the moment.

After Xie An, Shao Jin asked a few more people.

Almost everything that could be said had already been said, except for Zao Yong's suggestion of "fasting and prayer," which was adopted—setting up an altar in Xiangyang to worship Heaven and Earth and the ancestral temple, praying for victory over the enemy, and demonstrating that Heaven's mandate was in Daliang.

It sounds a bit far-fetched, but many people actually believe it.

During the sacrificial ceremony, one could also use some tricks to create auspicious omens, which would then be sent by messengers to the front lines in Jiaozhou, thus boosting morale to some extent.

The shogunate's agricultural reform envoys were quite efficient in their implementation; they acted quickly and decisively.

That afternoon, the altar was set up, the letter was written, the gold and silk were almost ready, and the amount of compensation was carefully considered and a standard was set. The only difficult thing was sending envoys to persuade them to surrender. They could only think of a solution after arriving in Jiaozhou...

******
In early November, Crown Prince Shao Jin basically concluded his inspection tour in northern Jingzhou and prepared to head to Shouchun.

The three-year field survey is nearing its end, with only the Jiangbei area of ​​Yangzhou remaining to be completed.

There are still land surveys to be conducted in Liangzhou and Yizhou, but Shao Jin will not go there personally; he will only send his staff to take charge.

Looking back on the past three years, it all feels like a dream.

Many difficulties and obstacles were overcome one by one.

He witnessed the greed, ruthlessness, malice, and even the irrationality hidden deep within people's hearts.

He realized what the foundation of the nation was. Therefore, when the court established Pixiang in Dongguan County, Wendeng and Dongmou in Donglai County, and Hanting in Beihai County, totaling four Longxiang Prefectures this year, he ordered all the Wushui barbarians captured in Yiyang, Jiangxia, and Lujiang to be transferred there to serve as the prefectural soldiers.

He also saw the enormous benefits of having batches of students from the Imperial Academy, the National Academy, and even military academies who passed the imperial examinations serve as grassroots officials, competing on the same stage with scholars and powerful families—undoubtedly, this was advantageous to the rule of a family like the Shao family, whose foundation was not deep enough.

Each and every event had a profound impact on him. What remained after the tide receded would become the foundation and guiding principle for his future governance of the world, invaluable indeed.

In mid-November, the agricultural envoy of Futada arrived in Runan County and stayed for a few days.

Here, Shao Jin annotated some of the memorials that had been sent to him. Most of them did not require his decision; he only needed to add his own opinions, and then someone would collect them and send them to the Bianliang Palace for the emperor's review.

The only thing that left a deep impression on him was the death of General Liu Ling, the commander of the garrison.

He had met this person before; in front of his father, he was like a docile bear, but in front of him, he became slightly arrogant.

It's best if this kind of clueless person dies, otherwise he won't know what to do with him in the future.

Finding a pretext to punish such a person would make them seem callous and ungrateful, while ignoring everything would make them even more detestable. It's good that they're dead now.

Before leaving Runan, he received news that when several thousand soldiers and barbarian troops from Guangzhou arrived in Rinan, Lu Rongcheng had already fallen, with over six thousand dead. The main army clashed with the Linyi troops, defeating their vanguard and beheading over a thousand. The rebel army retreated and set up camp, forming a pincer movement with Lu Rongcheng, attempting to put up a stubborn resistance.

After reading it, Shao Jin felt somewhat conflicted.

The loss of Lu Rongcheng was actually not related to him, but somewhat related to Sun He. However, the main reason was that Fan Wen came in full force and took the initiative.

However, there is also a positive side. The soldiers from Guangzhou are quite capable in battle. They are soldiers from Jingzhou and defeated the previously arrogant Linyi soldiers in their first battle. I heard that they captured a lot of armor, so they must be no ordinary people.

Currently, the various armies are still gathering and have not yet fully deployed. Once everything is ready, they can march south and let the rebels taste the bitterness of national ruin and destruction.

In addition, he also received a letter from the military supervisor Ruan Fu, which mentioned that after winter, Jiaozhou would not be so humid and hot, and there would be less rain, which would be conducive to the army's advance.

The sea surface seemed calm, and Sun He intended to send his navy south to feign an attack on the heart of Lin-yi, employing a combined strategy of surprise and conventional warfare, a pincer attack by land and sea. His reasoning was that Lin-yi's main force was concentrated in Rinan, leaving its rear relatively vulnerable.

As usual, Shao Jin did not interfere, but simply organized a meeting with his subordinates to discuss the strategy—and that was all.

At the end of November, most of the shogunate's personnel, including Futada, who was in charge of promoting agriculture, arrived in Shouchun.

Shao Jin moved into the tranquil Huainan Garden of the Shaofu Palace and summoned local officials and elders in batches.

At the same time, he loaded the land and household registration records he had recently gathered onto a cart and sent them to Bianliang, where they were handed over to Shao Xun for review and archived in both Bianliang and Luoyang.

(End of this chapter)