Jinting Han people

The next morning, Liu Xian awoke in Jianchang Palace, had breakfast, and then began to handle state affairs.

Although by this time the new city of Yi'an and the palace were almost completed and ready to hold court, Liu Xian did not use the East Hall of Jianchang Palace, where court was held, because Lu Zhi and others were still on their way to relocate the capital. Instead, they held court in a pavilion called Fuhu Pavilion behind the East Hall.

There were seventeen people who came to discuss matters: Grand Commandant He Pan, Chancellor Li Sheng, Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Li Ju, Attendant-in-Ordinary Fan Ben, Attendant-in-Ordinary Zhuge Pan, Attendant-in-Ordinary Liu Fan, Minister of the Imperial Clan Liu Xuan, Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhou Yi, Commander of the Central Army Zhou Fu, Left Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Lu Yun, Minister of the Five Armies Li Feng, Minister of Works Lü Quyang, Minister of Agriculture Cao Miao, Minister of Personnel Xi An, Grand Herald Yan Zuan, Minister of Justice Li Ci, and Commandant of the Guards Xiahou Zhi.

Although some new faces have been added, the majority are still veterans of Shu Han, and it can be said that so far, personnel changes have not yet affected the central government. The meeting being held now is essentially a small-scale inner court assembly, held every three days, to allow Liu Xian to understand the progress of various political affairs and to make decisions on some unexpected events.

After everyone was seated, as was customary, the meeting was chaired by Minister Li Ju, who instructed the ministers of each department to report on their current tasks.

The first to speak was Lu Yun, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He first reported to Liu Xian on the progress of the construction of the Imperial Academy, which was expected to be completed within half a month. In this way, the construction of the new city would be completely finished. However, he did not recommend immediately disbanding the mobilized laborers, because the weather had been humid and hot recently, with signs of heavy rain. He planned to reinforce the dikes around Youjiangkou in preparation for unforeseen flooding.

This was indeed an important matter, but Liu Xian did not immediately approve it. Because the construction of the new city had already mobilized too much manpower and placed a heavy burden on the national food supply, Liu Xian asked Lu Yun to first compile a list to determine the time and materials needed for the dike construction before the completion of the Imperial Academy, and then make a decision on it.

Next to speak was Cao Miao, the Minister of Agriculture, who had recently been busy with the matter of land reclamation. Because of the troop reductions, land needed to be allocated to some of the laid-off soldiers, and the existing cultivated land was certainly insufficient. Therefore, he needed to find wasteland in Jingnan and cultivate new fields. Fortunately, Jingnan had always been a sparsely populated area with limited development, and he quickly found three plots of land, which were then presented to the King of Han to decide where to begin cultivation.

One area is the southern part of An'nan County (present-day Nan County) north of Dongting Lake, which had been almost completely burned by Gan Zhuo's troops and was relatively easy to cultivate; another area is the northeastern part of Lingyang County in Tianmen Prefecture (present-day Li County), where the land is fertile but there are some Tianmen Yi people, and relations with them need to be coordinated; the third area is the northwestern part of Chanling County in Nanping Prefecture (present-day Songzi County), which is also a fertile land, but there is a risk of flooding, so canals and dikes need to be built.

After discussing the matter for a while, Liu Xian and the others concluded that since Yi'an was to be the capital, the priority should be to strengthen the capital region. Comparing the three locations, the best option was to establish military farms in Chanling. This way, the construction of dikes and canals upstream would reduce the risk of flooding downstream. However, the country was unlikely to have the manpower and resources to build canals there this year. They would have to make the people work harder first, cultivating fields in the higher areas this year, and then establishing military farms in the lower areas after the dikes and canals were built this winter.

Afterwards, the group discussed several important matters, including registering displaced people, exempting them from rent and inspecting their land, pacifying the Yi and Yue peoples, and establishing schools and enrolling students. Only after all the civil affairs were discussed did they move on to military matters.

Liu Xian first asked Li Feng, "Is there still no news from Guangzhou?"

Li Feng cupped his hands and replied, "Your Highness, I have already sent out the fourth batch of messengers to inquire, but as of now, there is still no news of Supervisor Xi."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian showed a rare expression of frustration. He asked Li Feng for the replies from Xiangnan during this period, compared them, and reviewed them again. He also spread out a map on the table and studied it for a while, but he couldn't get the gist of it and couldn't guess the situation at the front.

Although the activities of the Han army in the areas north and south of the Yangtze River have largely ceased, the fighting in southern Hunan has not yet ended since its inception.

Since Du Tao raised his army in July, he has relied on tens of thousands of refugees from Sichuan and Chongqing to build up his troops. He first defeated Xun Tiao, the governor of Xiangzhou, in Xiangnan, and then resisted Wang Dun, the governor of Jingzhou, in Linxiang. He also defeated seven governors of Jin and pacified six counties in Xiangzhou. His military achievements were truly remarkable.

However, his troops were ultimately just refugees, and their equipment, supplies, and logistical support were far inferior to those of the government army. Therefore, with the Jin army in Xiangzhou and Guangzhou joining forces to launch another attack on Du Tao, and with Wang Dun's forces blocking the north, he was plunged into a period of hardship and was once forced to retreat from Shian County back to Quanling.

However, with the timely support of Xi Jian leading over ten thousand Han troops and several thousand cavalry, Du Tao's forces rallied once again. He turned the tables, leading one route personally to engage the Jin army head-on, while the other route, led by Xi Jian, made a large detour, passing through Fuchuan and Linhe. After half a month, they traversed over a thousand li, passing through three prefectures, bypassing the Ling Canal, and appearing directly in Shian Prefecture.

This news greatly alarmed Wang Ji. In order to ensure the smooth flow of the grain supply, he had no choice but to abandon the two key locations of Lingqu and Yanguan, and was forced to withdraw his troops to rescue Shian. Du Tao took the opportunity to pursue him, and as a result, Wang Ji was unable to advance or retreat. In the end, Xi Jian and Du Tao joined forces and surrounded him in Shian (present-day Guilin) ​​with superior forces.

The battle reached this point in late October of the third year of the Qiming era. Both sides knew that Du Tao had the upper hand. Wang Ji's refusal to surrender and his insistence on holding the city were solely due to his hope that the Jin army to the north would win and cut off Du Tao's retreat, allowing Wang Ji to turn the tide. However, as news of the victory at Yi'an reached Shi'an in mid-November, the morale of the Jin army in the city plummeted. Du Tao and Xi Jian decisively broke through the city, capturing Xun Tiao, Wang Ji, and other generals alive, and taking over 30,000 Jin soldiers prisoner.

After the battle, Xi Jian was about to send a letter to the King of Han to report the victory when, during their rest, they encountered a messenger heading north seeking reinforcements. The messenger came from Panyu City (present-day Guangzhou), the capital of Guangzhou Prefecture, and was dispatched by Guo Ne, the Prefect of Nanhai. The messenger's letter claimed that an army of about ten thousand men, carrying flying tiger banners, had suddenly appeared and surrounded the city, demanding Guo Ne's surrender.

Xi Jian asked the messenger to describe the banner in detail, and immediately realized that it was the banner of the Tiger Army. Did that mean that Zhang Fang was the one attacking Panyu?
Zhang Fang had previously escaped across the river and gradually disappeared from Jingnan, with no trace found even by the Jin army's search. Most people assumed he had either died of illness in the mountains or been killed by the Yi people; in short, he was unlikely to rise again. However, Xi Jian never expected that he could actually make a comeback, which was truly unbelievable.

Upon hearing this news, Xi Jian was immediately uneasy. According to the original plan, he and Du Tao had successfully completed the mission assigned by the King of Han, not only defeating the Jin army but also occupying the entire Xiangzhou. As long as they marched north on time, it would be a great achievement. But now Zhang Fang had suddenly appeared, changing the situation completely.

Although Guangzhou has a small population and is a remote and impoverished place, if Zhang Fang were to seize the opportunity to establish himself and become the master of Lingnan, given that he is one of the most renowned generals in the land, he would inevitably cause chaos in the court and result in many deaths and injuries. When Xi Jian received the news, it was the perfect opportunity to eliminate Zhang Fang before he could grow too powerful.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Xi Jian persuaded Du Tao to leave 20,000 troops in Shian, led by Du Tao's confidant Du Hong, to guard the prisoners. The two of them then led 40,000 troops south, guided by Wang Ji's general Qu Lan, deep into Guangzhou to pursue and annihilate Zhang Fang. This time, they were determined to wipe him out completely.

This was the military report Liu Xian received last December. However, after the fourth year of Qiming, Liu Xian only received two military reports. The first military report was in mid-January, saying that Xi Jian was on his way south and had not yet reached Panyu, but had only arrived at Guangxin. It seemed that he had been discovered by enemy scouts, and the enemy, upon hearing that the enemy was coming from the north, immediately withdrew the encirclement and retreated eastward in a panic.

The second military report arrived in late January. Xi Jian arrived in Gaoyao County and encountered several straggling enemy soldiers on the way. He captured them to gather intelligence on the enemy forces. He learned that Zhang Fang had recruited several thousand refugees from Sichuan and Chongqing during Du Tao's uprising, which enabled him to rise to power. Then, taking advantage of the chaos, he marched south and captured the three prefectures of Guilin, Yulin, and Hepu. He also recruited nearly ten thousand barbarian soldiers, bringing his total force to about twenty thousand. He intended to use this to occupy Guangzhou, and if that failed, he would march south to Jiaozhou.

Xi Jian was overjoyed upon hearing this. He immediately submitted a memorial stating that Du Tao was highly respected among the refugees in Bashu, and that he himself was flying the banner of the Han army. As long as they continued to pursue Zhang Fang, Zhang Fang's forces would inevitably collapse without a fight, the refugees would turn against him, and the Yi people would scatter. Therefore, he planned to follow the old method, dividing his forces into two groups. Du Tao would go to Panyu to cross the sea by boat and intercept Zhang Fang in Jiaozhou ahead of time, while Xi Jian himself would penetrate deep into Yulin County to attack Zhang Fang's current stronghold, Bushan.

From then on, there was no news of Xi Jian's Han army. This was not surprising, as they had not even fully controlled the counties of Xiangzhou, let alone the city of Guangzhou. Deep in unfamiliar territory, they didn't even know where they were, so how could they send a message to the court? The area was also extremely remote and remote, so much so that Liu Xian sent four groups of people to inquire about their situation, but to no avail.

Now it is April, and Liu Xian has sent Huo Biao to take over the various counties and prefectures of Xiangzhou. Du Hong's troops and their prisoners have also established contact with the Cangwu and Nanhai prefectures of Guangzhou, but there is still no news of further developments.

This inevitably leads to much speculation, with those in the know whispering among themselves. Perhaps Du Tao's troops encountered a strong storm at sea and their ships sank, or perhaps Xi Jian's troops were ambushed by Zhang Fang and completely wiped out; otherwise, why would there be no news at all?
Liu Xian, of course, did not believe such words. Whether they had won or lost, he wanted to see the people alive or dead. How could there be no news at all? Therefore, even though he was full of worries, Liu Xian did not make such assumptions and continued to urge the dispatch of envoys to find out as much as possible about the details of the southern front.

However, it seems there is still no result for now. Furthermore, the absence of Xi Jian and Du Tao, the two great heroes of the eastern expedition, means that the distribution of rewards and honors for the entire expedition, as well as personnel changes in Xiangzhou, will be postponed.

With this in mind, Liu Xian said to Li Ju beside him, "Shi Hui, you should mobilize three thousand men and fifty thousand shi of grain and fodder, and head south to Shian County first, in preparation for any eventuality."

Liu Xian made this decision primarily based on two considerations. Regardless of the outcome of the southern campaign, at this stage, their supplies were undoubtedly exhausted. If Xi Jian and his men returned, they could obtain supplies; if Xi Jian and his forces were defeated, they could hold their ground in Shi'an, relying on its strategic location. This was the most he could do at the moment.

After discussing the military situation in the south, Liu Xian inquired about the military situation in the north. He asked Li Feng, "Is there any movement from Chu Zhong in Nanyang?"

The reason Wang Dun had not yet gone to Jiangzhou to take up his post at this time was because, as the former governor of Jingzhou, Liu Xian needed his cooperation to smoothly carry out troop reorganization and demobilization within the Jin army and hand over military affairs in Jingzhou. During this period, Wang Dun even went to Xiangyang with Zhang Guang to consolidate the defense line and appease the soldiers and civilians.

The reason for consolidating Xiangyang was simply that after Wang Dun's defection, Liu Xian needed time to take over the territory. As a result, Wang Mi, who was besieging Xuchang in the north, heard the news and sent troops to investigate. He unexpectedly found that the defenses of Hanbei were weak. His general Zhang Song immediately led his troops to occupy the two counties of Nanyang and Xinye, and once approached Fancheng.

However, Liu Xian judged that the enemy was merely taking advantage of the situation and had little intention of directly engaging in battle. According to current intelligence, the enemy's main attack was likely directed at Xuchang, making a direct confrontation unlikely. Therefore, Liu Xian ordered Wang Dun and Zhang Guang to lead their former troops to quickly fortify Xiangyang as a deterrent.

His judgment was correct. Li Feng replied, "As far as the latest situation is concerned, the Qi bandits have little will to fight. Since our army arrived, the bandits have withdrawn from Xinye and returned to Nanyang. It has been more than ten days. It seems that they want to use Wancheng as the boundary."

After pondering for a moment, Liu Xian said, "In that case, let Chu Zhong come back and prepare to go to Jiangzhou to take up his post."

Although Wancheng was a strategically important town, it wasn't so crucial that Liu Xian needed to retake it immediately. It was merely Nanyang Commandery; Liu Xian's immediate priority was stabilizing his existing territory. To this end, Liu Xian didn't even take Yangzhou, which was within his grasp, let alone the Qi and Han forces to the north—there was no need to escalate the conflict. As for these enemy forces who liked to fly blue banners and also called themselves Han soldiers, they were simply disowned and contemptuously referred to as "Qi traitors."

However, at this point, Liu Xian inevitably inquired about the situation in Xuchang and Luoyang. Because he had been cut off from communication with Jiangbei before the new year, he only heard in February that Zu Ti had sent reinforcements to relieve the siege of Xuchang, but the effort had failed. Therefore, in the past month, while recruiting members of the Central Plains gentry, Liu Xian had also been re-investigating military intelligence in the north.

Because of the alliance with Zu Ti, everyone is focusing on Luoyang. Li Sheng replied on this matter: "The Qi bandits are still attacking Xuchang and are mainly on guard against Luoyang, so they have not taken any action yet. But the Zhao bandits seem to have a plan. They seem to be sending troops, but they are not attacking Luoyang. Instead, they are focusing on Hongnong."

“Hongnong…” Liu Xian thought for a moment and then understood Zhao Han’s intention. The other party was planning to cut off the connection between Guanzhong and Luoyang first, and then attack the two places separately.

Liu Xian quickly made a decision. He said to Li Sheng, "Bin Shuo, go and draft an edict to have Yue Shi repair the roads in Hanzhong first. After Yang Nandi leads his army back, if the north is in dire straits and Yan Ding asks for help, be prepared to aid Guanzhong."

After discussing Luoyang, Li Ju then reported on Xuchang, stating based on available information: "Since the bandit leader Liu Gen arrived in Xuchang, the siege has lasted for nearly three months. This bandit Liu Gen claimed he would take Xuchang in half a month, but he failed to do so. However, as the siege continues, we have heard that several sections of the city wall have collapsed, and Xuchang should be on the verge of collapse soon."

Hearing that Xuchang was about to fall, apart from Zhou Yi and other Jin soldiers who had just surrendered and showed signs of regret, most people remained expressionless, as they had no emotional attachment to the Jin court. Liu Xian was only somewhat saddened, wondering how many more old friends would die this time, but given the current situation, he was powerless to intervene, having neither the strength nor the will to risk the lives of his soldiers. Aside from a sigh, he could offer no further comment.

After nearly two hours of discussion, all matters, large and small, had been settled, and everyone dispersed. Liu Xian then summoned Yang Bin, the magistrate of Yi'an, to inquire about recent matters concerning price stabilization. At the same time, he was also preoccupied with the flood control matter Lu Yun had mentioned, so he instructed He Guan, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, to inform the palace guards that he would be inspecting the dikes that afternoon. (End of Chapter)