Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 408 Can't we just rebel?
Yuzhou, Guangling City!

Hebasheng has been in a good mood lately. He has captured Guangling City and now controls several prefectures that the Southern Liang Dynasty established in Huaixi.

With this achievement, Hu Sichun in Luoyang could no longer compete with him.

For the 30,000 northern soldiers, what Hebasheng could give them, Husichun could not.

After that, whether he led his army back to Luoyang or continued to conquer Woyang, pushing the battle line with the Southern Liang to the Huai River, Hebasheng would be the undisputed leader among the northerners.

However, just as the battle was progressing smoothly, news of Heba Yue's death arrived.

Hebasheng knew his third brother's personality very well.

How could he possibly die trying to save Li Shuang?
Despite his grief, Hebasheng didn't want to know the full story, preferring to assume that Hebayue had truly died to save Li Shuang.

Li Shuang gave him an explanation, and also gave Heba clan an explanation, which was enough for Heba Sheng.

Just when Hebasheng thought the matter was over, an envoy from the Southern Liang found him and told him that Hebayun had been executed for treason.

Hebasheng initially didn't believe it, but he also knew in his heart that it was pointless for the Southern Liang envoy to provide him with false information at this time. Since the two armies had already separated, it was impossible to expect this news to cause chaos within Hebasheng's army.

From that moment on, Hebasheng was gripped by extreme fear.

He didn't know if Heba Yun had really rebelled, or if Li Shuang had killed him first and then framed him for treason.

If that's the case, could he be next?

Therefore, Hebasheng dispatched his troops to keep an eye on the northern generals in Guangling City, fearing that some of them, like Dongfang Lao, might have been bribed by Li Shuang and would strike him down at a crucial moment.

However, Hebasheng's decision not to keep an eye on things only made things worse; the fact that he sent people to keep an eye on things actually led to the discovery of some unusual occurrences.

What are Jia Xiandu and his group secretly plotting by contacting the northern generals under Hebasheng?
Although they are all from the north, there are factions within the northern community.

For example, Jia Xiandu's father, Jia Daojian, was the chief clerk of Woye Town. He started his career as a deputy general in Bogulu Town and had little connection with the Wuchuan faction.

Even after they all joined Erzhu Rong, they did not merge into a single force.

Hebasheng did not choose to ignore these underhanded tactics, but instead chose to confront them directly.

Northerners value heroism the most!

Hebasheng summoned a group of generals, including Jia Xiandu, and asked them directly:

Do you intend to conspire against me?

Jia Xiandu hadn't expected Hebasheng to be so blunt. However, he quickly realized that Hebasheng was acting with a sense of impunity.

Hebasheng held actual power over tens of thousands of troops, and most of the generals were willing to follow him.

Since the establishment of the Six Garrisons, the three Heba brothers have been the undisputed top-tier generals among all the northern generals, setting them apart from other generals.

Jia Xiandu and his group gathered together and, in front of Hebasheng, said the following:

"I can't wait!"

"Then what have you been doing secretly colluding all this time?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xiandu knew that Hebasheng already knew, and immediately stopped hiding it.

"We are afraid that the Grand Commandant will rebel and implicate our families!"

Jia Xiandu knew how to deal with northerners, and telling the truth was the best option.

From a public perspective, there wasn't much difference in position between him and Hebasheng; Hou Jingcai was the nominal commander-in-chief. From a private perspective, the northerners were all acquaintances through marriage and had a good relationship with each other.

Upon hearing this, Hebasheng finally confirmed that the news of Hebayun's death was indeed true.

Jia Xiandu received the news, but it certainly wasn't something he obtained on his own.

Among the well-informed people in Luoyang, the first person Hebasheng thought of was Husichun.

The only person Jia Xiandu could trust so much was his younger brother, Jia Xianzheng.

It's possible that Jia Xianzheng's information came from Hu Sichun.

Hebasheng guessed most of the details, and his expression grew increasingly gloomy.

"So, you all know now!"

Jia Xiandu's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, but he still forced himself to speak:
"We do indeed know about Aju Ni's matter!"

Hebasheng slammed his hand heavily on the table in front of him. The loud thud made everyone present feel a jolt.

Just as Jia Xianzheng was wondering if Hebasheng was about to make a move, the other party calmed down and sat down.

Do you believe that Aju Ni would rebel?

Jia Xiandu hesitated for a moment, but under Hebasheng's gaze, he had no choice but to answer:
"Logically, it shouldn't be like this, but the Adou Ni incident just happened, and now Aju Ni is like this, so it's probably not a coincidence."

Hebasheng listened and slowly said:

“Today it is the Heba clan, but who knows if it won’t be your turn in the future. Da Ye Shuang is not Er Zhu Rong, he doesn’t have that much patience for us northerners. Only when we are all dead can his men rise up.”

What Hebasheng said was actually what worried many of the northern generals.

Erzhu Rong was the leader of all the northerners, but Li Shuang was not. Li Shuang's attitude towards the northerners could be summed up as: use them if they could be used, kill them if they couldn't.

When Li Shuang defeated Erzhu Zhao and captured Jinyang, he showed no mercy to the northerners who sided with Erzhu.

However, the northerners still harbored a sliver of hope. After all, both Yuwentai and Gao Huan were powerful warlords.

Unlike the Heba brothers, they don't have such high prestige, so they shouldn't be targeted by Li Shuang.

What Hebasheng said wasn't without reason. What if Li Shuang really wanted to get rid of them all?

Seeing that everyone was filled with doubt, Hebasheng spoke up:

"If I wish to return to Luoyang and revive the Yuan dynasty, what do you all think?"

Upon hearing this, some were eager to try, while others hesitated. At the crucial moment, Jia Xiandu stepped forward and stopped them, saying:
"Grand Commandant, you mustn't! If you do that, my brothers will surely die."

Jia Xiandu's resounding words startled everyone present. Including Hebasheng, everyone looked at Jia Xiandu, waiting for him to continue.

"Grand Commandant, our troops number no more than 30,000. The newly occupied territory is not even strong enough to hold. Let alone attacking Luoyang, we may not even be able to get past Xuanhu City."

Jia Xiandu's reminder was crucial.

They all received the news, how could Hou Jing not know?
They knew perfectly well who Hou Jing was, and were probably already on guard.

Without capturing Xuanhu City, entering Luoyang is simply impossible!
Hebasheng didn't take this seriously. Jia Xiandu, seeing this, probably guessed that Hebasheng must have Liang connections behind him!

Both Heba Yun and Heba Yue have Liang people behind them. Even if Heba Sheng did not collude with Liang people at the beginning, he should have made contact with them by now.

Although they offended the Liang people in this battle and occupied several counties in southern Liang, compared to the temptation of counterattacking Luoyang, these counties were insignificant to the Liang army!
"Grand Commandant, even if we were to capture Luoyang, what difference would it make?"

Jia Xiandu had already clearly seen the pros and cons. Of course, the people in Luoyang had also already taken stock of the situation for him.

“Our families are all in Luoyang. The current governor of Luoyang, Changsun Zhi, is very influential. Will he just watch us enter Luoyang and do nothing? Moreover, Luoyang is a place of constant warfare, surrounded by the troops of Da Yeshuang. How can we hold out? And will the emperor stand on our side?”

Upon hearing Jia Xiandu's words, the generals who had been hesitant calmed down. Hebasheng's expression also turned grim.

Luoyang was a battleground on all sides; even if they captured it, they would not be able to hold it—this is an indisputable fact.

Hebasheng still wanted to try, saying:
"Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai are both in Hebei, and they command a large army. They may be able to provide assistance."

Jia Xiandu shook his head and said:
"Although they are northerners, Gao Huan is now very close to the Gao family of Bohai and even said that he would marry into the Li family of Zhao County in the future. Whether he is still a northerner or not is long gone. As for Yuwen Tai, he is currently fighting against the Khitan, so there is no need to count on him."

After Jia Xiandu finished speaking, he looked at Hebasheng and said:
"Has the Grand Commandant forgotten that Yuwen Tai's elder brother, Yuwen Luo, is dead or alive and his fate remains unknown? Even if he were in Fanyang, he wouldn't help us."

Jia Xiandu made it very clear that Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai could not possibly become their reinforcements.

With no external reinforcements and insufficient internal defenses, whether they could even capture Xuanhu City was still uncertain, making an attack on Luoyang utterly impossible.

Hearing this, Hebasheng originally wanted to argue a bit more.

But Jia Xiandu's last words made Hebasheng completely give up his plans.

“If Da Ye Shuang can subdue A Jun Ni, how can he not subdue Po Hu? If Po Hu goes north, he will likely face certain death and bring disaster to his family.”

Upon hearing this, Hebasheng finally abandoned his plan to attack Luoyang. Although he could command the northern generals, he could not lead them down a path they knew was doomed to failure.

"I'm tired, you can all leave!"

"promise!"

After leaving the main tent, the group asked Jia Xiandu:
"What's next?"

Jia Xiandu sighed and said:
He'll figure it out himself.

As Jia Xiandu said, Hebasheng did indeed figure it out very quickly.

He couldn't stay in Guangling City, nor could he rebel, so leaving was the best option.

Now that things had come to this, Hebasheng could no longer surrender the city to Southern Liang. After all, he had already confronted Jia Xiandu and the others. Although he had left, the land he had conquered was still related to the interests of 30,000 northern soldiers, and Hebasheng could not take it with him.

Hebasheng had no choice but to take his troops and leave Guangling City overnight, crossing the river to seek refuge with the Southern Liang.

……

The day after Hebasheng surrendered to the south, Hou Jing arrived at Guangling City with eight hundred cavalry.

Hou Jing's face showed only regret at Hebasheng's defection to the Southern Liang.

"How could it have come to this!"

"When news of Heba Yun's rebellion came, the Grand Commandant was filled with anxiety and fear and could not control himself, so he crossed the Huai River and left."

Jia Xiandu explained from the side. He neither stopped Hebasheng from leaving with his troops nor intercepted them halfway; on the contrary, he cooperated fully.

Since Hebasheng was so accommodating and didn't make things difficult for the northerners, they naturally had to give Hebasheng face in return.

Hebasheng left, but his family remained in Luoyang. Jia Xiandu and the others never mentioned Hebasheng's previous plan to attack Luoyang.

Hou Jing, upon hearing this, complained:

"Po Hu is just an impatient man. What does Heba Yun's rebellion have to do with him? Why is he so worried? Besides, Heba Yue saved the emperor. Even if Heba Yun did something wrong, this merit and demerit are enough to offset it. Why is he so worried?"

"The General is right, but what's done is done, and it won't be easy to bring the Grand Commandant back."

Although Hebasheng defected to the enemy, there were reasons for it, and he did not do anything detrimental to the court, so it was not appropriate to pursue the matter further. As for Hebasheng's family in Luoyang, these northerners did not want them to be punished too severely.

Hou Jing nodded, looked at Jia Xiandu, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

Upon seeing Hou Jing's appearance, Jia Xiandu was startled, unsure of what Hou Jing was up to.
The situation remained deadlocked!

Hou Jing coughed, and finally his strategist Wang Wei stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting:
“An army cannot be without a commander for a single day. Since Hebasheng has defected to the enemy, the Supreme General should be stationed in Guangling, commanding the army and awaiting the King of Qin’s orders.”

The scene was a little awkward.

Hou Jing had originally thought that since he was already there, Jia Xiandu and the others would take the opportunity to have him stationed in Guangling. However, Jia Xiandu and the others didn't mention it at all; it was Wang Wei who brought it up in the end.

Wang Wei was not from the north, and he was Hou Jing's strategist, so it was rather unseemly for him to say such things.

It made it seem as if Hou Jing was forcing himself to sit in Hebasheng's chair.

Jia Xiandu paused for a moment, then, seeing the eager gaze from Hou Jing, lowered his head and cupped his hands in greeting:

"The Supreme General is the commander-in-chief, and it is naturally the best choice to be stationed in Guangling City."

"Since everyone says so, I'll stay!"

Hou Jing refused to comply, and the northern generals couldn't say anything. Hou Jing wasn't as good a fighter as Hebasheng, but he was much more cunning. Plus, given Hou Jing's status, offending him would have dire consequences.

Seeing Jia Xiandu and the others leave, Hou Jing's smile vanished, and he spat out a curse.

"These stinking northerners don't know what's good for them!"

Wang Wei, who was standing nearby, was stunned by what he heard.

"But General, aren't you also from the North?"

Hou Jing smiled dismissively and said:
"How could I, who serve the King, be from the stinking north?"

Wang Wei smiled inwardly and asked:
"Is the general a Han Chinese?"

"Not really!"

"And who is the Supreme General?"

"I am from Guanzhong!"

Hou Jing realized what was happening, looked at Wang Wei, saw him suppressing a laugh, and cursed:

"go away!"

Just as Wang Wei was about to leave, Hou Jing remembered something and pulled him back.

"General, is there anything else you require?"

Hou Jing was somewhat worried. After all, the army stationed in Guangling was composed entirely of northerners.

"Hebasheng has escaped, but there are bound to be his spies in the army. We must be on guard and change Hebasheng's deployment immediately."

Wang Wei nodded and said:

"I understand. I will go and draft the document immediately."

After Wang Wei left, Hou Jing sat in the chair that Hebasheng had once used. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, he murmured:

"These Tiele barbarians, as expected of people from Wuchuan, their judgment is really terrible!"

……

(End of this chapter)