Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 459 Expanding Territory, Breaking Promises

Xu You was unpopular. After he was imprisoned and questioned by the Bureau of Accountability, many civil and military officials exposed his concealment of crimes, many of which were reported by former members of the Yuan family.

To demonstrate his affection for Xu You, Zhang Yu publicly expressed his grief for Xu You during a court meeting and had the Sili Commandant Lü Fan intervene to jointly investigate Xu You with the Accounting Department.

Lü Fan was Zhang Yu's confidant and deeply understood Zhang Yu's intentions. With the joint efforts of Lü Fan and Yu Yi, Xu You was brought to justice and accused of annexing land and houses, abusing his power for personal gain, and disobeying imperial edicts.

According to the law, Xu You should have been sentenced to death, but Zhang Yu, considering various factors, magnanimously pardoned him, citing his great merit and the fact that he was a marquis of the state, and instead exiled him and his family to Lintao County in Longyou. After Zhang Yu's performance, everyone sighed that Xu You had met a wise and benevolent ruler, and regarded Zhang Yu as such.

Lintao Commandery, formerly known as Longxi Commandery, was located on the western border of Longyou. It was a vast and sparsely populated area, with the Tao River, the Daxia River, and the upper reaches of the Yellow River flowing through it. A large number of Qiang people lived there. Xu You was now being relocated to Lintao Commandery, where he would live among the Qiang and Di people. If he was lucky, he might be able to enjoy his old age in peace; if he was unlucky, he might be killed by the Qiang people at any time.

When Xu You learned that his entire family had been relocated to Lintao, he wept bitterly and submitted a memorial to Zhang Yu, begging him to allow him to remain in the Central Plains. Zhang Yu refused according to the memorial, but in order to appear to care for Xu You, he ordered the Lintao Prefecture to provide livestock and farming tools so that Xu You could settle in the western border region.

Seeing that Zhang Yu would not allow him to stay in the Central Plains, Xu You, despite his many grievances, had no choice but to kowtow and express his gratitude for Zhang Yu's magnanimity and benevolence in order to save his life.

Not to mention that Xu You's entire family of more than twenty people were exiled to Lintao, now, with Zhang Yu's support, Wang Ling has sent troops from Hanzhong to Shangyong.

At that time, the world was in chaos. When Zhang Lu occupied Hanzhong, the powerful Shen brothers from Shangyong gathered villagers and refugees to protect themselves. This lasted for several years, and the Shen brothers had gathered thousands of households of followers.

Shen Dan, the elder brother, first contacted Zhang Lu. When Yuan Shu declared himself king and emperor, Shen Dan sent an envoy to Yuan Shu to request a title. Yuan Shu was overjoyed to see that the man had surrendered and appointed him as the Commandant of Shangyong, governing the counties of Xicheng, Shangyong, and Fangling.

With Yuan Shu's support, Shen Dan sent his brother Shen Yi to occupy Xicheng. After occupying Xicheng, Shen Yi recruited people on a large scale and expanded his retinue. By then, the two brothers each had several thousand households of followers.

After Hanzhong submitted to Zhang Yu, Shen Dan sent an envoy to Zhang Yu to request a title. At that time, Zhang Yu already intended to go to Shangyong. In order to prevent Yuan Shu from intervening in Shangyong, he deliberately appeased him and secretly appointed Wang Ling as the governor of Shangyong.

Although Wang Ling is only twenty-seven years old, he has more than ten years of experience since he joined the army in his teens.

Now that he finally had a chance to lead the army independently, Wang Ling and Protector-General Yan Pu went to Hanzhong together. After some investigation, they submitted a memorial to Chang'an, saying that the Shen family had long lived in Shangyong and were now Yuan Shu's subjects. The mountain roads were dangerous and difficult, so it was not advisable for a large army to attack them. If they used a surprise attack to sneak up on the Shen family, they would surely defeat them.

After submitting his memorial, Wang Ling, fearing that Lady Shen would learn of his whereabouts, requested two thousand elite troops from Guo Huai and set off day and night for Xicheng. Protector-General Yan Pu and Yang Ang led three thousand troops to accompany him, while Guo Huai mobilized local officials and soldiers to supply them with provisions.

The distance from Nanzheng to Xicheng is three or four hundred li. Wang Ling was worried that Shen Yi would notice, so he traveled along the Han River, traversing mountains and rivers, and tried to reach Xicheng within six days so that Shen Yi would notice and he would have time to gather his troops.

After a six-day march, on February 26th, Wang Ling led two thousand elite troops to Xicheng.

Caught off guard, Shen Yi was shocked to hear that Wang Ling had arrived in Xicheng. He mobilized his troops to meet Wang Ling in battle. Wang Ling led his army in a fierce fight and defeated the enemy. Shen Yi was routed and fled to Shangyong.

After the fall of Xicheng, Wang Ling had to rest due to the exhaustion of his troops. After reuniting with Yang Ang, they led their troops to Shangyong.

According to the original plan, Wang Ling intended to pursue Shen Dan to Shangyong and then defeat him by surprise. However, the roads were treacherous, and by the time he led his troops to Shangyong, they were likely exhausted, let alone able to defeat Shen Dan again.

Therefore, given the complex terrain of Shangyong, Wang Ling awaited Yang Ang's arrival and led 5,000 troops to attack Shangyong.

When they were approaching Shangyong, just when everyone thought a fierce battle was about to break out, Shen Dan sent an envoy to Wang Ling's army to request surrender.

Inside the main tent, Wang Ling scrutinized the envoy Li Shang and asked, "Shen Dan intends to surrender?"

"Of course!"

Li Shang bowed and said, "The Tang Emperor's power subdues the world, and the names of his mountains are known to all. How dare my lord oppose him!"

Wang Ling pondered for a moment, then asked, "Since Lord Shen has surrendered, what are your demands?"

Li Shang respectfully said, "General, the world is not yet at peace. My lord wishes to temporarily reside in Shangyong, command troops to serve the Tang King, and his family will be escorted to Chang'an."

Wang Ling narrowed his eyes and said, "My army has arrived here. Why should Lord Shen lead troops to serve the Tang King? If you are willing to surrender, the Tang King will surely appoint you to a high-ranking position, just like Zhang Lu in Hanzhong."

Li Shang said meaningfully, "The Chen dynasty is in Nanyang, which is more than a thousand miles away from Shangyong. However, Shangyong is surrounded by water on three sides and faces land on the other side. There are tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city. If you lead your troops to attack, I don't know when you will be able to take the city. I'm afraid that before you take the city, Yuan's army will arrive!"

"Although the road to Shangyong is treacherous, my lord has no intention of resisting the royal army, but only wishes to preserve his own wealth and status. I hope the general will understand the plight of the people."

The Shen brothers, who control Shangyong, are different from other local warlords. They have little ambition; they only want to be local tyrants. If they fail to become local tyrants, they only want to gain wealth and status based on their accumulated capital. If Wang Ling does not agree to their surrender, according to the envoy's words, he will close the city and hold out, awaiting the rescue of Yuan Shu's army.

Wang Ling remained silent for a while before saying, "Since Lord Shen wishes to surrender, how could I not? Please have the envoy relay this message: if you are truly willing to surrender, the King of Tang will surely treat you well."

"promise!"

After exchanging a few words, the envoy Li Shang, seeing that Wang Ling had agreed to the request, happily took his leave.

“General Wang, the Shen family is a powerful clan in Shangyong, but they have surrendered due to the perilous situation. If things get urgent, wouldn’t they rebel against the Tang King?” Yan Pu said worriedly.

Wang Ling smiled and said, "How could I not know the Shen family's intentions? I have my own plans!"

"good!"

Shen Dan was willing to surrender, and Wang Ling, going along with his wishes, persuaded him to do so, thanks to the efforts of the envoy Li Shang. Wang Ling, as a relative of the emperor, guaranteed the brothers' surrender, promising them official titles: the younger brother, Shen Yi, would be made a marquis and appointed to an official post in the capital; the elder brother, Shen Dan, would be made a marquis and stationed troops at Xunkou. Seeing that Wang Ling seemed genuine, the Shen brothers agreed to surrender to the Tang army on a set date.

When Wang Ling set up camp outside Shangyong, he saw that the Shen family had sent an envoy to present a letter of surrender and held a banquet outside the camp to celebrate. The Shen brothers, because of their recent surrender, were suspicious of Wang Ling's intentions for holding the banquet. However, when they saw Wang Ling ride alone to the city to invite them and hold the banquet by the river with no Tang soldiers around, they had no doubts and happily went to the banquet.

At the banquet, amidst the clinking of glasses, Wang Ling used Zhang Lu as an example to continuously paint a rosy picture for the Shen brothers.

After a few drinks, Wang Ling said with a smile, "Zhang Gongqi entered the court as an official and was granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households. I wonder why Brother Shen is unwilling to enter the court?"

Shen Dan put down his wine cup and said, "I have many brothers and followers. If I leave them to go to court now, I fear that they will cause trouble. I hope General Wang will understand."

Using the large number of his followers as an excuse, Shen Dan simply wanted to observe the situation. If Zhang Yu was no match for Yuan Shu, he might immediately defect to Yuan Shu.

"Does Your Majesty truly not wish to enter the court?" Wang Ling asked.

Shen Yi became very wary, observed the situation at the banquet, and asked, "What is General Wang's intention?"

Wang Ling took a sip of wine, looked at the two men and their entourage, and said, "If you two were to enter the court, you would surely receive a great reward. I have no intention of going to court today."

"Den!"

As he spoke, he raised the wine bottle and smashed it to the ground, the empty bottle making a loud noise.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Shen Yi put his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at any moment, and shouted, "What do you mean by this?"

Before he could finish speaking, a large number of armored soldiers emerged from the previously empty area. Their wet bodies indicated that they had come from the river.

"Wang Ling, you have broken your promise. Are you not afraid of the Tang King's wrath?" Shen Dan asked in alarm.

"If the King of Tang had only wanted Shangyong, and you had entered the court just now, I might have spared your lives. But now that you have refused to enter the court, don't blame me for breaking my promise!" Wang Ling said with a face full of regret.

Shen Dan said fearfully, "General, stop! My brothers and I are willing to go to court to serve the Tang Emperor!"

"Too late!"

Wang Ling shook his head and waved.

"kill!"

……

On March 2nd, the Shen brothers surrendered. Wang Ling feigned compliance and tricked the Shen brothers into attending a banquet. He then ambushed axemen in the water and killed the Shen brothers and their entourage, leaving only the envoy Li Shang alive.

After the Shen brothers were killed, Li Shang, in order to save his own life, tricked the city gates into opening and led Wang Ling and his army into the city.

After entering the city, Wang Ling, following Li Shang's instructions, killed more than ten of the Shen brothers' confidants and imprisoned hundreds of Shen clan members.

After several days of reorganization, Shangyong was completely under the control of the Tang army. Fearing that his former associates might rebel in alliance with the Shen clan, Wang Ling relocated the Shen clan and more than a hundred of their relatives to Nanzheng, entrusting them to Guo Huai for safekeeping, pending arrangements in Chang'an.

After Shangyong was temporarily settled, Wang Ling questioned Li Shang.

"You are from Guanzhong, and you fled to Shangyong due to the great chaos in Guanzhong. May I ask how you came to be here?" Wang Ling asked.

Li Shang respectfully replied, “There is a small road from Chang’an to Shangyong. It enters from Kugu in the north, follows the Zha River, and then joins the Xun River, which leads to Shangyong. This road connects Chang’an and Shangyong, but few people travel between the two places, so very few people know about it. However, because there are few people, the road is inconvenient to travel on. If you want to make it passable, you will need to send people to repair it.”

How far is the road?

“It’s about three or four hundred li away, and since it doesn’t go through Hanzhong, it’s the most convenient way to get to Chang’an,” Li Shang said.

The small road Li Shang mentioned was the Kugu Road. The Kugu Road appeared in historical records during the Northern Wei Dynasty, and by the Tang Dynasty it had developed into one of the official roads, on par with the Ziwu Road and the Tangluo Road. However, during the Three Kingdoms period, the Kugu Road was just a small road, and Shangyong relied heavily on it to transport refugees from Guanzhong.

Wang Ling seemed thoughtful and continued to ask, "What about Fangling?"

"Fangling has a small population and only a few hundred soldiers, unlike Xixian and Shangyong counties, which are mostly inhabited by the Ba people. It was formerly governed by the former Han magistrate, who died and was then governed by officials sent by Yuan Shu."

Li Shang added, "The Cong people make a living by farming, are fond of martial arts and fighting, and their customs are similar to those of the Han people. Your Excellency may be able to employ them."

"good!"

"How far is Shangyong from Wancheng? If we go down the Han River now, where in Nanyang can we reach?" Wang Ling asked again.

"It's 1,200 li long. The general has sent men to guard the strategic passes. The mountain roads are rugged, and no troops can easily cross them. If we go down the Han River, we can reach Xiangyang, and then pass through Xiakou. The waterway stretches for thousands of li before flowing into the Yangtze River," Li Shang said.

(End of this chapter)