Chapter V50C11 When the Path’s Exhausted, Change Will Come

Translator: Foxs' Wuxia

After seeing Gui Xiliang and Xing Rong off, Kou Zhong spurred the Thousand-Li Dream outside the city to drive away his cares. Wuming was circling high overhead, following him. No matter how busy he was, he always found time to let the Thousand-Li Dream stretch his legs and play with Wuming a little bit.

This was actually Tuli’s suggestion, human and animal need time to cultivate affection and establish close relationship.

From the air, Wuming swooped down, Kou Zhong made some bird noise and raised his left arm to let her perch on it. When the firm eagle claws grabbed his wrist, he had a feeling of intimacy similar to with the horse under his crotch, as if they were his own flesh and blood.

Perhaps one day, when he suffered defeat and fled for his life, when one by one the brothers by his side fell down, while the enemy covering the mountains and the plains pursued him from behind, when his body was weary, his strength exhausted, he would only have his beloved horse and beloved eagle to accompany him. After losing everything, would he be able to copy the Western Chu Hegemon Xiang Yu by killing himself?

Kou Zhong revealed a hint of bitter and astringent smiling expression.

When Gui Xiliang and Xing Rong thoroughly laid out the pros and cons and refused to help him to capture Jiangdu, for the first time in his life, they made him feel disheartened of being in some desperate straits, but he did not blame them for not being friends enough. Furthermore, he knew from experience the distress that the two suffered. They were now in different positions; there were several thousand brothers under them, who mingled and ate rice under their leadership, they could not possibly put their entire people in danger of being completely wiped-out simply because of his one order.

Their analysis was based on the actual circumstances. Even if he could attack into Jiangdu, but with Li Zitong having adequate preparation, he might be able to feel proud of his accomplishment for a short while, but it would be difficult to last long. Even if there was a miracle: he succeeded in driving Li Zitong out, but when the Li Army from the other cities launched an all-out counterattack while his disposition of troops had not yet steadied, he absolutely would be unable to defend Jiangdu, ultimately it would still be difficult to escape the fate of being annihilated. How could he have the heart to let his men, who had confidence in him, throw away their lives in vain?

Recalling the street warfare after Dou Jiande broke the City of Liyang, his entire spine seemed to be immersed in cold sweats. At that time the Dou Army held superiority position where their military power was ten times of the enemy’s, and the commander-in-chief of the enemy’s side already led his troops to desert the city, the soldiers defending the city had gone through many days and nights without sleeping, so that they guarded the city with body weary, strength exhausted, their morale was declining. Yet they still had to pursue every cun and every chi into the city, so that for the sake of final victory, they had to pay heavy price in term of injuries and deaths.

Jiangdu could not be compared to Liyang; even if he exerted all his strength to raise Pengliang’s forty-thousand Shao Shuai Army to attack into the city, he still could not break into Jiangdu Palace, which, in term of scale, was comparable to the imperial palace of Chang’an. In the past, were it not for the chicken inside the coop were rebelling, how could it be that easy to overthrow Yang Guang?

Most of the officers and soldiers of his Shao Shuai Army were new addition to the family who had never been through a battlefield, who had never been through hard fighting. No matter how excellent their training was, no matter how undivided their loyalty toward him, in the southern battlefield, they would encounter the most bitter street-to-street struggle; how would they be able endure it?

A clear-cut image was playing in Kou Zhong’s mind: he and his men climbed over the city wall, they broke through the gaps, stormed into the city, and the defenders, which had been waiting with stored-up momentum, rushed to kill from four sides, eight directions like tidal wave; arrows and darts sprayed down from the top of the wall, the watchtowers, and all high places like raindrops, to the abundant flesh and blood below. The elite troops from the imperial palace continued to pour in, the army units from the barracks outside the city were flocking in.

Kou Zhong could not help but shudder, as he was washed with horror and shivered all over though it was not cold.

When the City of Luoyang was broken, Li Shimin would lead his troops to the east, and Li Zitong would come from behind to cut off all his retreating routes, both on land and water, and then how many days would the defenseless Pengliang could hold out?

Should he take Gui Xiliang and Xing Rong’s advice to take advantage of the time while he was still able to, to slip away to Lingnan?

But by doing this, his Shao Shuai Army would be done for as well. Other than Xuan Yong’s two thousand men, Bu Tianzhi’s Ju Jing Bang men, plus several hundred of Shuang Long Bang brothers, the rest were Pengliang natives, who were born and grew up in this area; how could they give up their home and families to accompany him to a remote place in the south?

How would Song Que see him? Would he withdraw his support because instead of fighting, Kou Zhong was fleeing?

To the left he could not go, to the right it would not work; left and right, there were difficulties abound. The feeling of having no choice made him unbearably distressed that he wanted to cry aloud, in order to vent off the resentment and indignation in his heart.

Gui and Xing, two men’s words had shattered his last hope.

Zheng Shiru and Xu Ziling sat down to talk on a pile of rocks on the mountain top outside Huiling.

Zheng Shiru said, “About a month ago, Song Zhi came to Bashu to see Duzun Bao’s Xie Hui, bringing Song Que’s letter with him. The letter was very polite, Song Que expressed his determination, in order to adhere to the Han people’s orthodoxy, to fully support Kou Zhong in unifying the world, hoping that various big factions in Bashu under Xie Hui’s leadership would maintain their neutrality, until after he and Kou Zhong determine victory or defeat with various mighty men of the north before deciding their position. The letter does not have even half a sentence of threatening word, but it has turned the entire Bashu Wulin upside down. This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, you might as well take a look, the cold and somber situation will surely make people unbearably sad.”

Xu Ziling began to have a better understanding of this wild and proud man, about his enthusiastic precepts of the antiquity, his deep concern toward the common people, which, by no means to be compared to those men whose mouth was full of virtue, who opening their mouth they speak about their country, closing their mouth they speak about the people. His concern evolved from his real heart.

Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, “Xie Hui and Song Que have always had close relationship; I wonder if it is because this matter overturns their agreement with Shi Feixuan that it caused huge waves?”

Zheng Shiru sighed and said, “If only this matter is that simple. Three days after receiving the letter, Xie Hui and Qiangzu’s [Qiang ethnic group, esp. in northern Sichuan] ‘Hou Wang’ [Monkey King] Feng Zhen, Yaozu’s [Yao ethnic group, southwest China] ‘Mei Ji’ [Beautiful Woman (or concubine, courtesan)] Sina, Miaozu’s [Miao (Hmong) ethnic group, southwest China] ‘Ying Wang’ [Eagle King] Jue Luofeng and Yizu’s [Yi (Nuoso or Lolo) ethnic group] ‘Lang Wang’ [Wolf King] Chuan Mouxun had a summit conference between the Han people and the Bashu’s four major ethnic groups in Duzun Bao, so that the various tribal masters could personally inspect Song Que’s handwriting. Since this matter is of great importance, the four major tribal master did not dare to make hasty decision, they must return and consult the elders of the tribe. However, during the meeting, Xie Hui pointed out that Song Que’s letter has come too late, furthermore, he is not too optimistic about Kou Zhong, immediately his comment provoked controversy in the meeting. Finally they parted on bad terms.”

Hearing that, Xu Ziling was greatly surprised. It was quite a moment later that he said, “At that time, was Song Zhi still in Chengdu?”

Zheng Shiru replied, “Song Zhi only stayed in Chengdu for two days and then he left; Xie Hui called the meeting after Song Zhi left.”

Xu Ziling was at a loss, he said, “Song Que did not ask Xie Hui to stand on his side at all, as long as he remains neutral. Xie Hui’s son Xie Wenlong is married to Song Que’s daughter Song Yuhua, why is Xie Hui against the person that Song Que has in mind, while the other minority groups are willing to listen to Song Que’s advice instead?”

Zheng Shiru replied, “What else but that he is haunted by selfish motives. Li Yuan has sent three envoys one after another to have private discussion with Xie Hui. As for the details, naturally outsiders have no way of knowing, however, it can be assumed that Li Yuan must have promised nobility title and generous official salary, because each time, after the envoy left, Duzun Bao always held great celebration.”

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Xu Ziling said, “It’s hard for us to blame Xie Hui. In Jianghu, a promise worth one thousand [taels of] gold. Since he promised that after Luoyang is broken, he is going to surrender to the Tang, naturally he cannot overturn the agreement just because of Song Que’s letter.”

Zheng Shiru sneered and said, “The problem is that now it is not an ordinary Jianghu agreement at all, rather, it concerns Bashu’s survival. You don’t know how big Song Que’s influence in Bashu is. The Song Family controls Bashu’s import of salt, they hold over 50% of Bashu’s commercial trade in their hands. Song Family’s navy fleet even dominate [lit. proclaim themselves hegemon] the South [China] Sea and the Yangtze River, they could attack from the waterway at any time. All of these may not be enough problem, the real problem is under Song Que’s threatening power, who does not know that not only Song Que is the Number One Saber in the World, but he is a great and might talent in military matters, an expert in geography. Going against this kind of person’s intention, the consequences are hard to imagine.”

Xu Ziling said, “Zheng Xiong having such understanding toward Song Que, it’s not surprising at all, but why do the four tribal chiefs have such a restraining fear toward Song Que?”

Zheng Shiru replied, “I believe the correct word is reverence. In their mind, Song Que is the Han man who can treat the ethnic minority well; in business, he never cheated them even for half a penny, toward the numerous vulnerable tribes in the Lingnan area, he extremely loves and protects them even more. If you want Bashu ethnic minority people to elect a king over the world to whom they would give their allegiance the most, they would undoubtedly choose Song Que.”

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “Too bad Xie Hui, who should have the closest relationship with him, will never see the whole situation from this standpoint. But frankly speaking, I feel that Xie Hui’s view is actually sensible and proper. If he overthrows his agreement with Li Yuan, it would be akin to angering Li Yuan, and presently, Li Clan is the one occupying the utmost advantage, Song Que is able to unify the south to stand opposite of this situation, he can be considered not bad at all. In order to give consideration to his huge family and clan, Xie Hui is not without his difficulties in standing opposite to Song Que.”

Zheng Shiru spoke heavily, “Please forgive me for speaking forthrightly, Ziling made the same mistake as Xie Hui, which is you underestimate Song Que. Speaking about self-restraint, Song Que can restrain himself better than anybody else. Therefore, he was able to avoid conflict with Yang Jian. For the past many years, he preserves and nurtures his spirit in Lingnan, to cultivate talents from all sides. Even with Yang Jian’s power, he still did not dare to take risks by marching down to Lingnan. From this, you can see his fear and respect toward Song Que.”

After a short pause, he looked up to the starry sky above, and slowly said, “However, when the angry dragon, who has been in hibernation for many years, soars to the sky from its hiding place and arises, no one can stop him. It’s true that he seems to be missing a good opportunity by letting the Li Clan grow big, while Kou Zhong’s Shao Shuai Army is in position that they are helpless against any danger, plus they have not established their mighty power. But you should know Kou Zhong better than I do. Song Que plus Kou Zhong, I dare say that they will be able to turn the whole situation around. There will come a day where Xie Hui will regret the decision he took today.”

Xu Ziling could not help thinking about Song Yuhua. She was trapped in the middle, with difficulties left and right. She was a good woman with talent and intelligent, and she had already foreseen the situation today, hence the reason she sought him and asked him not to let Kou Zhong and Song Que meet, yet Xu Ziling himself had something that was entrusted to him. Ay!

Zheng Shiru’s pair of eyes emitted a fanatical expression, he said, “Not concealing anything from Ziling, Song Que is the person among the numerous figures in the world that I revere the most; I have spent a lot of effort to study his strategy and means in pacifying the southern border and in repelling the foreign Barbarians’ invasion; furthermore, I also observe his business methods. He, the Senior, is indeed a talent in both civil and military matters, adept in using the astonishing to control the astonishing, plus he has quick-witted mind that the gods and the ghosts cannot fathom. Without actually watching his real action, nobody can see through this ability, wisdom, and capability. Now, although it appears that he and Kou Zhong are in some disadvantageous position, but perhaps he deliberately created this situation, for the purpose of having others underestimating him.”

Shaken, Xu Ziling said, “It seems like Kou Zhong and I also underestimate him.”

Taking a deep breath, Zheng Shiru said, “I am convinced that my opinion on Song Que is absolutely correct. One day my conjecture will be confirmed.”

Xu Ziling was still half-believing, half-doubting, simply because it did not matter if Song Que really had capability that the gods and the ghosts could not fathom, war is not just two persons facing off against each other, it will also be subjected to other people’s affairs and objective conditions.

Zheng Shiru said, “Do you know who told me that you were going to arrive in Chengdu today? I bet you will never guess.”

Xu Ziling thought, ‘Could it be Shi Qingxuan?’ But thinking about it, it did not make any sense, she never paid any attention to the things of the world, plus she had no idea that he was coming to Shu. Shaking his head, he said, “Zheng Xiong, please reveal it to me!”

Zheng Shiru smiled and said, “It was the Fat Merchant An Long.”

Xu Ziling blurted out, “Unexpectedly it was him?”

Zheng Shiru said, “Last night An Long came to see me, telling me to inform you that the Xiang Family definitely won’t miss the golden opportunity of you coming to Bashu to see Shi Qingxuan. People with aspirations scheming against unsuspecting people [orig. people with heart scheming against people with no heart], they will do whatever it takes to put you to death; he told me to warn you.”

In his heart, Xu Ziling felt that this was indeed a bizarre matter. Unless Shi Zhixuan ordered An Long to do so, An Pangzi [fatty An] would never have such good intentions toward him. But why did Shi Zhixuan do that? Deep in his heart he secretly thought of an answer, but he refused to admit it.

Zheng Shiru spoke heavily, “I asked An Pangzi why he was so concerned about your safety, An Pangzi only smiled bitterly without saying anything. He even implored me not to tell you that the information came from him. Why did An Pangzi help you?”

Xu Ziling shook his head with blank expression on his face, he was speechless.

Kou Zhong summoned the civil ministers and military generals under his command to light a lamp for a night talk.

The attendees included Xu Xingzhi, Xuan Yong, Ren Meimei, Gao Zhandao, Chen Laomou, Bai Wenyuan, Jiao Hongjin, Zha Jie, Niu Fengyi, Bu Tianzhi, Chen Changlin, and Luo Qifei. All the leaders of the Shao Shuai Army were concentrated in the main hall of the Shao Shuai Mansion. There was a taste of first imperial court summit, but it was held in the evening. [Note: the character ‘zhao/chao’ can be translated morning or imperial court, or assembly held by a sovereign, which was usually held in the morning anyway, hence the comment about it being held in the evening.]

Kou Zhong sat on the main seat at the end of the hall, facing the door, the rest sat on either side of him.

Kou Zhong appeared calm, no one could tell that just now he was frustrated and disheartened, thinking hard about things that could not be resolved.

Naturally the crowd knew that he had something important to say, hence they held their breath and calmed their qi, waiting for him to open his mouth.

Sweeping his gaze across everybody’s eyes, he laughed calmly and said, “Just now I had a chat with Gui Bangzhu, only then did I find out that my way of thinking was too naïve. Li Zitong distributed his troops in Yanling, across the river from Jiangdu, in Zhongli, who guard the confluence of the River, and in Gaoyou, which is closest to our southern border, strategically, it is very smart. I agree with Gui Bangzhu’s opinion that if we advance into Jiangdu, we will undoubtedly lose.”

None of the generals did not change their countenance.

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Xuan Yong said, “In Gui Bangzhu’s opinion, will Li Zitong move his troops against us? If he deployed the troops in Gaoyou and Zhongli separately via land and water, two routes, to go up north to invade, it will be extremely strenuous for us to deal with them.”

Kou Zhong shrugged his shoulders and said, “That is precisely what Gui Bangzhu is worried about. But I dare say that Li Zitong would not have that kind of guts. To be precise, I should say that Li Shimin does not have confidence in Li Zitong.”

Ren Meimei did not understand, “I wonder if Shaoshuai can explain clearly?” she asked.

Kou Zhong said, “Li Zitong already surrendered to the Tang, Li Shimin is his master, but Li Shimin does not have excessive expectations that Li Zitong would be able to annihilate me, therefore, he might have ordered Li Zitong to curb me with all his strength, while at the same time preventing me from going down south to attack Jiangdu. Li Zitong divided his troops into four cities, perhaps it was Li Shimin’s idea, otherwise, with Li Zitong’s cowardice and fear of death, why didn’t he concentrate his troops in Jiangdu?”

Xu Xingzhi agreed, he said, “Shaoshuai is absolutely right.”

Full of concerns, Bu Tianzhi said, “If we are being curbed by Li Zitong that we can’t move a single step, the day Luoyang city is broken, Li Shimin’s main forces will come to the east, Li Zitong is going to invade various cities on our southern border, won’t we be trapped with the enemies on both sides?”

Chen Changlin said, “The House of Tang’s navy and Li Zitong’s seagoing troops have enough power to cut off our canal and river course transportation and blockade our various coastal cities.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Naturally we cannot sit and wait for death. The solution is very simple, which is, before the city of Luoyang is broken, we must strike and break down Li Zitong first. This is called selecting the weak to be devoured.”

Hearing that, the crowd was confused [orig. head in the fog]; just now Kou Zhong said that attacking Jiangdu would definitely end in defeat without any victory, but this moment he said to strike and break down Li Zitong, wouldn’t before and after contradict each other?

Only Xu Xingzhi had a smile on his face, but he did not say anything. Evidently he was inviting Kou Zhong to make a sales pitch on the medicine he was selling in his gourd.

Kou Zhong cheerfully said, “Xingzhi, please express your opinion, see if you and I agree without prior consultation.”

Xu Xingzhi laughed and said, “Is it luring the enemy to attack, and then entering by exploiting a weak spot, avoiding the important and dwelling on the trivial, abandoning the difficult and fetching the easy?”

Kou Zhong slapped the armrest and said with a sigh, “Nobody knows me better than Xingzhi. Who can tell me how we are going to lure Li Zitong, that idiot, to come and attack us?”

None was not affected by his powerful analysis, by the enormous confidence that came from his heart; their morale was immediately aroused.

Jiao Hongjin spoke disdainfully, “I know this man, Li Zitong. His ambition is big but his talent is sparse; his guts is as small as a mouse, but he rejoices in grandiose deeds [idiom: to strive to achieve extraordinary things]. Were it not for taking advantage of the void when Yuwen Huaji left and entered the city one step ahead of Du Fuwei and Shen Faxing, Jiangdu would never have fallen into his hand. As long as we can make him think that he has a chance to establish a great service to the House of Tang, plus he always thought that our wings have not grown, we can lure him to send his troops to the north.”

Letting out a weird laughter, Chen Laomou said, “This time Li Zitong, that is in trouble! Why don’t we feign an attack toward Jiangdu, pretending that we are sending Liangdu’s massive military force entirely to the front line? Seeing an opportunity that he can exploit, Li Zitong will certainly order Zhongli’s troops to attack via the water, and then we can deliver a frontal assault.”

Kou Zhong cheerfully said, “Chen Gong’s remark hit the nail on the head of half of my mind. But don’t forget that this ’s guts is very small. If he thinks that we are attacking Jiangdu, he would only transfer Zhongli’s troops back to Jiangdu to protect him; how could he dare to hastily go up to the north?”

Listening to this point, none of those sitting around the table did not know that he held the pearl of wisdom in his hands, he already had the whole plan in his heart.

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Kou Zhong said, “To put ourselves in his shoes, how would someone whose guts is small, who surrendered without fighting to the House of Tang – guess the enemy’s movement?”

Zha Jie could not help asking, “How would he think?”

This question carried a bit of naïve impression, provoking everybody’s smile; the atmosphere relaxed.

Kou Zhong mused that his way of dominating his subordinates could not possible be inferior to Li Shimin’s too much. Laughing aloud, he said, “Naturally he would think that the other side is as without guts as he is!”

The whole room roared in laughter, suddenly, the tiger-in-front-the-wolf-behind situation was no longer terrifying.

Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes flickering brightly, he straightened his spine and opened up his shoulders, he spoke with serious expression, “This time we can consider it as a military exercise; from Liangdu’s twenty-thousand men, we deployed fifteen-thousand to Donghai. Furthermore, we concentrate the ships toward Donghai County, leaving only twenty-eight flywheel boats as our secret weapon.”

Xu Xingzhi slapped his thigh and said with a sigh, “Li Zitong will mistakenly think that we, our momentum exhausted our strength is gone – must be retreating toward Lingnan. In order to rush over to establish a great merit, he will no doubt come to attack.”

Frowning, Ren Meimei said, “But since we are concentrating our troops in Donghai, we could also attack Jiangdu from the sea.”

Kou Zhong spoke heavily, “Hence the timing to move the troops is extremely important. The moment Hulao city is broken is the moment we move our troops. I dare to guarantee that Li Shimin already gave his order to Li Zitong to stop us from fleeing to the south. Therefore, when he suspects that our Shao Shuai Army has the intention to flee, he must be exhausting his capability to come and stop us. Whether openly or privately, Li Zitong will never let me off. I, Kou Zhong, will exploit this kind of attitude to wipe him out. Gentlemen and lady, go back and think about it, how are we going to play this game well? Our target is not Jiangdu, but Zhongli. If Li Zitong lose Zhongli, Gaoyou will be difficult to protect. Therefore, Zhongli must be the place that he will be fighting for. At that time, I will make him so that he has no room to advance or to retreat, he has the power but difficult to use it.”

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The crowd of generals accepted the order in loud voice.