Taiheiki

Chapter 299 Self-Awareness
"How could that be! With so many guests coming and going at the inn every day, there are several large buckets of leftover food. Who would be reluctant to part with a piece of meat or bone?"

"This is it!" Qin Ke shook the letter in his hand and laughed, "Hahaha, this time it's finally our Qin family's turn to prosper!"

"What do you mean? Is there some great news?"

"Didn't you hear?" Qin Ke laughed. "The General sent a high-ranking official surnamed Duan to lead the troops to conquer the barbarians in his place. What does that mean?"

"Is war about to break out?" the woman asked doubtfully. "But that can't be a good thing, can it?"

"Whether it's good or not depends on who it is!" Qin Ke smiled: "What's become of those who followed the General in conquering Linyi back then? Aren't they all incredibly wealthy and powerful?"

"You wouldn't be thinking of joining the army, would you, sir?" The woman exclaimed anxiously. "Our Qin family has houses and businesses now. The inn business alone brings in over a thousand coins every day. Why would we want to suffer the hardships of military service?"

"What do you know, woman?" Qin Ke retorted angrily. "It's true that we've made some money now, but in the Han Dynasty, money alone is useless. That's just being rich without being noble. Sooner or later, all the money in your family will belong to others. If you want to be noble, someone in your family has to join the army, earn merit, and be granted a title. That's true nobility. Do you understand?"

"So, are you really going to join the army, sir?"

"Well, of course, I didn't start as a common soldier when I joined the army. I have servants, guests, and retainers, and I'm fully equipped with armor and bows and arrows. I'm at least a high-ranking officer now, so you don't need to worry too much!" With that, Qin Ke stood up, walked into the main room, and bowed to the ancestral tablet in the center: "May our ancestors bless me so that I may achieve military merits, be granted titles and rewards, and bring blessings to my descendants!" Then he picked up the newly repaired ring-pommel sword from beside the tablet and hung it at his waist.

Qin Ke was not the only person in Panyu City to receive news of Duan Jiong's imminent arrival that day. Almost simultaneously, dozens of messengers, like a startled beehive, poured out from the former Prefectural Governor's Office, now the Governor's Office. They traveled by horse or boat, rushing to the administrative centers of various counties in Jiaozhou as quickly as possible.

"Sir, the General suddenly appointed Duan Jiong as the Chief Secretary of the General's Office and Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Jiaozhou, ordering him to lead the Jiaozhou army to march south. What do you think his intention is in doing this?" Shi Wu asked Kong Gui.

“I don’t know either!” Kong Gui shook his head: “As you know, I haven’t seen the General for more than two years since he went north. When he first set out, he said he only intended to control Jiangling and then stop. But what happened afterward was too drastic. I guess he didn’t even expect it at first and was just adapting to the situation! How can I possibly guess his intentions now!”

"If the general intends to wage war to the south, why doesn't he appoint Fifth Deng as his general?"

"I guess they think the Fifth Deng isn't enough to command the army!" Kong Gui said.

"Isn't he worried that Duan Jiong might take advantage of the opportunity to lead troops on a southern expedition and seize Jiaozhou for himself?"

"I don't know! Maybe he was already on guard, or maybe he doesn't plan to go back to Jiaozhou anymore."

Shi Wu opened his mouth, then suddenly realized that what Kong Gui said seemed to make a lot of sense. The great generals of the Han Dynasty either died of old age, were dismissed from office for crimes, or were executed; none of them voluntarily resigned. Wei Cong had now married Dou's daughter and become a great general, and would probably stay in Luoyang for the rest of his life. In that case, it was unlikely that he would return to Jiaozhou.

"What's wrong? Shiwu, is something on your mind?" Kong Gui looked at his student, whose brows were furrowed, clearly troubled.

Shi Wu gritted his teeth and asked, "Teacher, in your opinion, what kind of ruler is the Great General?"

"Oh?" Kong Gui glanced at his disciple and replied, "When the Great General governs the country, the nation becomes rich and the people strong; when he leads the army, victory is assured. He is truly a ruler bestowed by Heaven!"

"Could that Duan Jiong replace him?" Shiwu asked.

"I had heard of Duan Jiong's reputation when I was in Yanzhou. He was good at political maneuvering and skilled in military strategy. He was a superior man in Liangzhou, but he was still no match for the General!"

“Teacher, Jiaozhou is inhabited by both Han and Yi peoples, and the land is barren. Although it is vast, its population is smaller than that of a large prefecture in the Central Plains. It was only after the General’s arrival that we have the situation we have today. Duan Jiong is from Liangzhou. I fear that after arriving in Jiaozhou, he will act arbitrarily and ruin the General’s hard work!”

Kong Gui glanced at Shi Wu, knowing that his disciple was a representative of the local interests in Jiaozhou. After Wei Cong occupied Jiaozhou, although he dealt a heavy blow to the local gentry who resisted him, confiscated their land, and liberated their population, the large amount of wealth and slaves brought by Wei Cong's conquest of Linyi Kingdom, the reclamation of large tracts of fertile land in the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta, salt production in Hepu, overseas trade, mining and metallurgy centered on Shaoguan, and more advanced agricultural technologies, as well as the introduction of new cash crops such as oil palm and cotton, ultimately led to the initial formation of a water transport and industrial trade network centered on Panyu.

These local gentry quickly discovered that this foreign conqueror was also an exceptionally capable ruler. Compared to traditional agriculture, modern mining, large-scale handicraft factories, inland waterway trade, and overseas trade could bring far more wealth. They not only made up for their previous losses but also gained even more wealth, and more importantly, their wealth would continue to grow in the foreseeable future. Compared to this, the past was insignificant. These local gentry quickly joined Wei Cong's cause, learning to invest their family's wealth and manpower in order to obtain even greater returns.

Therefore, when the gentry of Jiaozhou learned that Wei Cong had become Grand General and gained supreme power in the empire, their feelings were quite complex. For a long time, the Central Plains had been the center of East Asian civilization. The people living in the Central Plains had a high degree of confidence in their own culture and politics, calling themselves Huaxia (Chinese) and referring to the surrounding peoples as barbarians. Those who were called barbarians were naturally not happy to be inferior, but the enormous political, military, and cultural advantages possessed by the Central Plains people forced them to acknowledge it, and over time, this was considered natural. The gentry of Jiaozhou were no exception, but with Wei Cong's arrival, they found that their wealth was growing rapidly, especially in Panyu. The city was developing at an incredible speed, like an inflating balloon. One Jiaozhou gentry proudly declared that if a Panyu resident went out at the beginning of the year and returned at the end of the year, he would be lost and unable to find his way home.

This growth quickly fueled the self-awareness of the scholars in Jiaozhou. They began to wonder, is Panyu inferior to Luoyang? Our rivers are sweeter, our waters more expansive, our climate warmer, and to the south lie endless arable lands, countless mineral deposits in our mountains, and inexhaustible fish and shrimp in our seas. Every year, countless merchants sail here, bringing all sorts of treasures to trade with us. If Wei Cong doesn't go to Luoyang but stays in Jiaozhou, in ten or twenty years, we will be richer, stronger, and more refined than the scholars of the Central Plains. At that time, we will no longer be inferior to the people of the Central Plains, nor will we be called "southern barbarians."

So when Shi Wu learned that Wei Cong had sent Duan Jiong to Jiaozhou to conquer the Southern Barbarians, a thought arose deep in his heart: Could it be that the Grand General would remain in Luoyang forever? Jiaozhou would return to its place it had been over a thousand years ago—a desolate land on the South China Sea, and the Guangxin family would once again become an insignificant clan on the periphery of the empire. "Shi Wu, you don't need to worry!" Kong Gui paused slightly: "The Grand General's roots are here. His officers' estates are all in Jiaozhou. You should know very well how much gold Jiaozhou sends him every year. If Duan Jiong fails, the Grand General will return. He will never abandon Jiaozhou."

------------------

Lingling, Lingqu.

"The Lingqu Canal is just ahead!" The captain proudly explained, pointing to the crowd along the canal. "Look, the General has already allocated a large sum of money from his treasury to widen the canal and build new locks, so that more and larger ships can navigate! Once the new locks are successfully built, ships with a capacity of less than 500 shi can sail directly from Panyu to Jiangling City without having to change ships!"

"Hmm, that's truly remarkable!" Duan Jiong looked with great interest at the sluice gate under construction not far away. The gate was so enormous that it clearly couldn't have been raised and lowered by manpower. He pointed to the many boats moored on the shore ahead and asked, "What's with those boats? Why are they all moored on the shore?"

"These are waiting to pass through the lock!" the captain laughed. "There's just too much traffic. But you don't need to wait; you can go through first!"

Duan Jiong remained silent, watching with great interest as his boat entered a narrow passage. The locks at both ends closed, the water level rose, lifting the boat to a higher height. The lock at the front opened, and the boat began to sail forward, then entered the next passage. This process was repeated four times before Duan Jiong's boat entered another waterway and began to sail normally.

"Such an ingenious gate, I wonder how much money Wei Cong spent on it!" Xia Yu said in a low voice, "This man has grand ambitions!"

Duan Jiong glanced at his subordinate general: "What a pity, you've discovered this a bit too late. He's already become a general!"

Xia Yu's face, covered with a thick beard, flushed red. He heard a low laugh behind him and turned around to glare fiercely at his attendants: "My lord, look at this sluice gate canal. If what the captain said is true, a 500-stone ship can go directly to Jiangling, which means that Wei Cong's navy can travel all the way from Panyu to Luoyang. That's terrifying!"

"Commander Xia, you'd better know your place!" Duan Jiong glanced at Xia Yu: "I am the Chief Secretary of the General's Mansion, and you are the Commander of the General's Mansion, understand?"

"I don't want to be some kind of boat captain!" Xia Yu muttered. "What a trivial official position! And it's getting smaller and smaller!"

"If you don't want to be a soldier, you can take off these clothes and get out of here!" Duan Jiong said coldly. "But before you leave, you have to return the 100 gold coins you owe as a settlement fee, and you can forget about serving in the Han army—don't forget, the General's Mansion now has the authority to manage military affairs in all the prefectures and counties across the country. If you don't even want to work for the General's Mansion, which place would dare to hire you?"

Xia Yu was speechless after being rebuked by his old superior's words. After a long while, he finally said, "I just think the general is too selfish. The Xianbei in the north are so rampant, but he pretends not to see it and insists that we go to Jiaozhou to fight for him. He even talks about expanding the border. What's so great about fighting in that kind of barbaric land?"

"When the court wants to discuss where to wage war, it starts with the Three Dukes and the Grand General, then the senior ministers of the Grand Secretariat, and then the Nine Ministers. When did it become your turn?" Duan Jiong sneered. "Back in Liangzhou, did you dare to make such presumptuous comments on military matters?"

Xia Yu chuckled twice, lowered his head, and after about a while, he heard Duan Jiong's voice: "Moreover, it's wrong of you to say that the General doesn't care about the Xianbei!"

"Are we going to wage war against the Xianbei?" Xia Yu was overjoyed upon hearing this, but then immediately regretted it, saying, "If I had known, I would have stayed in Luoyang. I would have missed the opportunity by going to Jiaozhou!"

"Don't worry, you didn't miss it!" Duan Jiong sneered. "It's no big deal to tell you now. The imperial court won't send a large army to attack Tan Shihuai. The reason is simple: the treasury is empty, the people are exhausted, and they simply don't have the strength to send troops. The general has chosen an even simpler method—send assassins to kill Tan Shihuai!"

"An assassin?" Xia Yu was taken aback. "This is far too undignified! If word gets out, people will laugh at the Han Dynasty for having no one to stand up for them, resorting to assassination to deal with a barbarian chieftain."

"Dignity?" Duan Jiong's lips curled up slightly, revealing a mocking smile: "You've been under my command for so long, and it seems you haven't learned anything! Since when has fighting a war been about dignity? In that case, I did far too many undignified things when dealing with the Qiang bandits."

"Do you think he did the right thing?"

“I don’t know if he’s right or wrong, but at least he’s not stupid!” Duan Jiong sneered. “It’s true that the treasury is empty and the people are exhausted after the recent suppression of the Eren bandits. Tan Shihuai’s forces are so strong. If they win the battle beyond the Great Wall, that’s fine, but if they lose, the border prefectures and counties will lose even their few remaining mobile forces. The consequences of Tan Shihuai’s retaliation are unimaginable. But if Wei Cong’s method succeeds, that would be best. The Xianbei will inevitably disintegrate and cease to be a threat to the Han Dynasty’s borders. Even if they fail, there will be no loss! Wei Cong is at least very clear-headed!”

"What about Jiaozhou? Why would he wage war against Jiaozhou? Does he think fighting in Jiaozhou doesn't cost money?" Xia Yu retorted.

“Indeed, it didn’t cost any money!” Duan Jiong pointed to the ships behind him: “See? There are only four hundred people traveling south with me. All the troops, provisions, and taxes are paid by Jiaozhou itself. The imperial court didn’t contribute a single copper coin!”

"Can Jiaozhou really handle this?"

“I don’t know, after all, we haven’t reached Jiaozhou yet, so we haven’t seen anything!” Duan Jiong said, “However, Wei Cong was able to enter Luoyang because of the strength of Jiaozhou. So—” At this point, he turned around, “at least in his opinion, it’s possible!”

(End of this chapter)