Taiheiki

Chapter 44: The Foundation of Hundred Generations
"I don't deserve it!" Zhao Yannian said with a smile, "In fact, even without my trick, using your method, it would only take a day or two to capture the Zhang family's Wubao. And using your method, you can catch all the thieves in one fell swoop, without any fish slipping through the net!"

"That doesn't matter. Those who escape now don't want to be buried with the Zhang family. People like them are unlikely to risk their lives seeking revenge on me!" Wei Cong laughed. He'd put so much thought into attacking Zhang's Wubao because he wanted to capture the entire Zhang family. Otherwise, the assassins of this era were too fierce. Unless he went out with dozens of guards from now on, he'd be in constant danger of being killed one for one.

Knowing that the number of combat-ready soldiers within Wu Fort had been greatly reduced, Wei Cong confidently led his small force to the foot of Wu Fort and began to carefully observe the building. Of course, the Zhang family Wu Fort before him had not yet reached the level of development seen during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, with dozens or even hundreds of Wu Forts connected together, civilians in armor plowing the fields, wielding hoes and hoes to watch, flints and beacons raised, young men and strong men fighting with bows and arrows, and the elderly entering the fortresses, capable of resisting tens of thousands of troops from a regime.

But we can also see the characteristics of its military architecture - a fort was built on the flat land on the top of the hill, surrounded by walls, with gates in the front and back, a watchtower in the dock, and corner towers in the four corners. The corner towers have protrusions to protect the front and back gates, leaving no blind spots for shooting. The entire Zhangjiawu Fort covers an area of about five or six acres, with a circumference of about two hundred meters, and there are trenches and low walls outside.

Zhao Yannian said, "I heard that when Zhang Bo'an became wealthy, he chose a new site to rebuild Wu Fort. There are five wells inside Wu, as well as a reservoir for firefighting. The food stored in Wu is enough to last for five years. The rammed earth used to build the city was taken from loess nine feet underground. After drying, it was hammered and sieved twice, then rammed with a mixture of glutinous rice juice and lime, making it incredibly strong. A lot of effort was put into it, preparing it to be the foundation for the Zhang family for generations to come!"

"A foundation for a hundred generations?" Wei Cong laughed. "Who does Zhang Bolu think he is? How many generations have been passed down from Emperor Gaozu to the present? A hundred generations? We'd be thankful if we could pass it down for seven or eight generations. If he really wanted to pass it down for a hundred generations, he should have taken his people to the mountains of the southwest to become barbarians. In that kind of place, it's possible to pass it down for thirty or fifty generations."

"Why do you say that?"

"That's easy!" Wei Cong stretched out his right hand and drew a large circle around it. "Look at the terrain here. It's right next to the river. There's another river not far away, and I don't know where it connects to. There's also a river bay not far away, which is a natural dock for ships. If we control this place, equipped with a dozen speedboats, we can patrol the river. The entire river for a hundred miles is controlled by the Zhang family. Even if we hadn't come to attack him this time, how could any governor with some experience turn a blind eye? Even if he can withstand it once, can he withstand it ten or a hundred times? On the other hand, in a place like that with poor mountains and bad waters, where it's difficult to advance or retreat, if he builds a Wu Fort in a dangerous place, the governor might not even know about it and will naturally ignore him!"

"That's right!" Zhao Yannian laughed. "Zhang Bolu was a man of few virtues, thinking he could build a strong city for his descendants. He didn't expect it would bring disaster upon him. He should serve as a lesson for those who come after him!"

"In my opinion, this Wu Castle was built for you, my lord!" Wang Shou, who was standing nearby, interrupted. "You don't even have a place to stay here, and you're still living in the Deng family's trading house. That's not a long-term solution. Why not destroy the Zhang family and then take over?"

"Is this okay? Isn't this Wu Castle too eye-catching?" Wei Cong was stunned when he heard this.

"If others can't, why can't you, my dear?" Wang Shou said with a smile, "After destroying the Zhang family, the prefect will reward you based on your merits and promote you to the position of Bandit Cao Yuan, which is an official with a salary of 200 dan. You are also the prefect's confidant. Add to that your family background and your connections with Master Cao and Master Deng. It's only natural for you to take over the Zhang family's assets. At most, you can pay a visit to the wealthy families in the prefecture and county and inform them!"

"That's right!" Zhao Yannian said, "As the ancients said, 'If you don't take what Heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences!' Those who wish to accomplish great things must first establish a solid foundation. Young Master, your virtue and prestige are evident in Jiangling, and the people are loyal to you. However, people gather and disperse easily. Right now, we lack a foundation. Zhang Bolu's Wu Fort was built precisely for you!"

Wei Cong remained silent despite the pleas from his subordinates. Wang Shou and Zhao Yannian had both reasoned to suggest that he take over the Wubao Fort left by the Zhang family. They both saw a fatal flaw in Wei Cong's current situation: the people around him were temporary, lacking long-term ambitions. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, surnames were held in high regard, to the point where the imperial court even created systems like clan records and the Nine-Rank System. Many history enthusiasts dismissed this as a form of decadent and backward aristocratic politics. But what modern people don't understand is that in medieval society, surnames truly represented a wide range of meanings, and selecting individuals and appointing officials based on their surnames was quite legitimate.

The reason for this is that many of the aristocratic families of the Wei and Jin dynasties generally originated during the Han Dynasty. Their path to success typically involved strong local clans, with some entering officialdom through academic pursuits and military exploits. They then gradually monopolized elections in their prefectures and counties, becoming prominent figures in their respective regions and representatives of local interests. They then united their communities during the collapse of the Qin and Han dynasties, surviving and even participating in political struggles at the center of the system. Each of these steps involved long and brutal struggles, and only clans that maintained internal unity and could draw in new blood from outside could emerge as the ultimate winners.

In this brutal struggle, individual talent plays a negligible role. Take, for example, Han Chun, the prefect of Nanjun in this book. His ancestor, Han Wangxin, was a minor figure amid the turbulent times between the Qin and Han dynasties. In terms of personal ability, official rank, and power, Han Wangxin was far inferior to Han Xin. Yet, Han Xin's entire clan was exterminated centuries ago, and his descendants were exterminated. Meanwhile, Han Wangxin's descendants were still holding high positions, holding official positions of 2,000 shi (2,000 stone) rank, centuries later. This was because Han Xin's clan wasn't strong enough, and he lacked sufficient clan members around him. Han Wangxin, however, was the illegitimate grandson of King Xiang of Han, and as a member of the Han royal family, he surely had access to numerous clan members of the same surname. Imagine if Han Xin had dozens or even hundreds of clan members around him, serving as guards and mid-level officers. Would he have been able to remain silent while Liu Bang twice entered his camp and seized his military power?
Therefore, in medieval society, an individual without a strong clan, no matter how talented they were, would only become a top-level tool, exploited by others. When they were needed, they would be promoted to high positions, such as being granted titles of nobility and ministers; when their usefulness was exhausted, they would be kicked aside or even killed. However, the children of powerful clans could rise to high positions, reaching the highest positions of officials, because they were not just individuals, but also had the support of their powerful clans. The state's appointment of children of powerful clans to official positions was largely the result of a game between the central government and local governments (the powerful clans represented the local areas).

Therefore, if the children of a prominent family succeeded, they could ascend to the ninth heaven, and if they failed, the blame would generally only fall on themselves (for example, Han Wangxin, mentioned above, although he ultimately failed in his rebellion, he was not exterminated with his entire clan. The reason was that his family was a royal family of Han, with so many members and deep roots that even the Han Dynasty could not have killed them all).
As a time traveler, Wei Cong was a lone, clanless individual. However, this wasn't the case in the eyes of others, especially Zhao Yannian and Wang Shou. They saw Wei Cong as a promising young talent from a prominent family in Yecheng, Hebei (Wei was a prominent family in Hebei). Implicated in a recent political struggle among the upper echelons of the capital (the First Party Persecution), he was forced to flee to Jingzhou. However, leveraging his extraordinary talents, Wei Cong befriended prominent figures in Jingzhou, recruited followers, and suppressed bandits, quickly establishing a powerful position. The fact that they were able to follow Wei Cong was a natural result of their own success.

But those who fail to plan for the future will inevitably face immediate worries. With the recent shift in Luoyang's political climate, especially after the Emperor appointed Lady Dou as Empress, anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was only a matter of time before the clique rebelled. After all, the Empress's own father was the clique's leader, so they couldn't just be wanted as criminals. This was certainly a good thing for Wei Cong, but not necessarily for Zhao Yannian and Wang Shou (in their eyes).

Because if the party case is overturned, Wei Cong will of course return to the center of the stage that belongs to him and go to Luoyang, and the future of Zhao Yannian and Wang Shou will be very worrying: Wei Cong needs Zhao Yannian and Wang Shou in Jingzhou to lead his minions, kill his enemies, manage property and farms, and run his business; but if Wei Cong returns to Luoyang, he will naturally no longer need to fight and kill. He has his family's retainers and guests for generations around him, and they are also locals who are familiar with the situation in Luoyang. It will never be the turn of old revolutionaries like them who are covered in the stench of water and horses. Even if they are not dismissed, they will be marginalized and become hangers-on who eat free meals. This is undoubtedly what Zhao Yannian and Wang Shou do not want to see.

For Zhao Yannian and Wang Shou, their only hope was that Wei Cong could establish a substantial empire in Jingzhou, leading to the establishment of a branch of the family there—a common practice among clans at the time. If this were the case, even if Wei Cong returned to Luoyang, he would need one or more trusted individuals knowledgeable about Jingzhou to look after his estate. Ideally, Wei Cong and A Jing would father a son. While A Jing's background as a dancer would make this child a bastard, he would nonetheless be Wei Cong's own flesh and blood, potentially becoming a minor vassal of the Jingzhou family estate (they believed that given Wei Cong's talent, he would most likely return to Yecheng to inherit the patriarchal family fortune). If they could serve this young vassal well, their descendants would become hereditary retainers of the Wei family, a true social class leap. It was for this reason that Zhao Yannian and Wang Shou were even more proactive than Wei Cong himself in annexing the Zhang family's Wu Fort and its lands. After all, this matter was of vital interest to them.

"It's too early for you to say that! We haven't even taken it yet!" Wei Cong was unaware of the twists and turns in his subordinates' minds. He looked at the sturdy Wu Fort before him and said, "You're just thinking about what's next. What's the difference between you and a wild goose flying in the sky, wondering whether to stew or roast it?"

"My lord, your teaching is correct!" Zhao Yannian said with a smile. "Although this Wu Fort is strong, it is not a fortress after all. According to my subordinates' instructions, we will build battering rams and catapults while filling the moat. Once it is completed, we will lay siege from all sides. It will take at most a day, at least half a day, and we will capture Wu Fort!"

"Catapults, battering rams?" Zhao Yannian's suggestion hit the spot for Wei Cong, a former tech geek. He nodded and said, "Okay, but we need to build a long perimeter first to block the entrance. Otherwise, we'll be ambushed by thieves while we're crafting the weapons!"

"Don't worry, my lord!" Zhao Yannian said with a smile, "Diwudeng, Wensheng, and I have attacked Qiang people's stone fortifications many times in the northwest. Leave it to us!"

"That's good!" Wei Cong glanced at Wu Castle not far away and suddenly felt that living there wouldn't be a bad idea. At least he wouldn't have to worry about being robbed at night. "You know, I'm not a stingy person. If I can take over the Zhang family's inheritance as you said, I will give you, Wang Shou, and Diwu Deng a piece of land." He scratched the back of his head. "I remember you guys have titles, right?"

"Yes!" Zhao Yannian's breathing became rapid, and he subconsciously clenched his fists: "I have a title that will not be changed."

"Alright, then you can give them according to the original amount. The same goes for you, Wang Shou!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "As for the Diwudeng and the others, give them according to the original amount!"

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After announcing the reward, Wei Cong returned to camp and began to think about the trebuchets. He knew he didn't need to worry about the siege; Zhao Yannian and the others would definitely do their utmost. Even so, after dinner, when he checked the progress of the project, he was slightly surprised. The front and rear gates of Wu Fort were completely blocked by trenches and ramparts, and the long siege surrounding Wu Fort was about one-third complete. At this rate, it would be completed in three days at most, and the defenders inside Wu Fort would be cut off from the outside world.

"How did you do it?"

"I heard the government was going to wipe out the Zhang family, so the people around here are coming to help!" Wang Shou replied proudly, "I counted over two thousand people at noon, and there will be even more tomorrow!"

"So many people!" Wei Cong's mouth dropped open. He hadn't expected so many people to come and help. "How do they get their food? I'm afraid we don't have enough food."

"No need!" Wang Shou said with a smile, "The people all brought their own food to work! Some even sent dried vegetables, pickled meat, and rice, saying they were rewards for the government troops for eradicating the evil Zhang family!"

"Bring your own food to work? And there's a reward?" Wei Cong couldn't help but laugh. He'd originally posted the notice simply to make the Zhang family's downfall a fait accompli, preventing those with ulterior motives from plotting behind the scenes. It would have been even better if he could have gotten some free labor. He hadn't expected the Zhang family to be so resentful among the local people that his casual manipulation had ignited a people's war. Since that was the case, he might as well spend a little more money to establish his reputation and build a good foundation for his future in Nanjun.

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(End of this chapter)