Chapter 688
The Crown of the Southern Warriors
Zhou Qi arrived with his troops at the break of dawn.
He Pan had just gotten up to attend to his duties and hadn't even had breakfast when he suddenly heard that reinforcements had arrived at the camp gate. He was quite startled and hurriedly went out to greet them. He saw a long column winding its way down the Fei River, the soldiers looking exhausted, their boats laden with supplies. Judging from their travel-worn appearance, it was clear they hadn't rested the night before and had come straight here.
When Zhou Qi, who was in the lead, saw He Pan, he greeted him with great respect, saying, "Master He, it's been more than ten years since we last met. How have you been?"
He Pan was also very happy to see him, and smiled back, "Xuanpei, I'm old now, but you're still very young!"
He Pan and Zhou Qi were indeed acquainted. Back when Pei Wei served as Chancellor, He Pan, through his connections with the Pei family of Wenxi, had served as Governor of Yangzhou for two years, during which time he interacted with the local Wu people. At that time, Lu Ji had already gone to Luoyang, and Zhou Qi was already a leader among the Wu scholars, so he naturally became familiar with He Pan. When Zhou Chu's coffin was sent back to Yangxian, He Pan even came to pay his respects. It was precisely because of this relationship that Liu Xian intended to appoint He Pan as the first Governor of Yangzhou.
However, Zhou Qi was arrogant by nature. As soon as he entered the tent with He Pan, he sat cross-legged on the couch without any scholarly demeanor, took off his windproof fur hat and outer cloak, rubbed his hands in front of the brazier, and said to He Pan, "Lord He, I originally planned to come next month, but the court sent me an imperial decree saying that the Huainan front was urgent and that I should come immediately, so I came ahead of schedule. What a journey! It took me six days to travel seven hundred li. I'm not too late, am I?"
The battle for Yangzhou was swift and decisive, much like Zhou Qi's pacification of Chen Min. This time, with Zhou Qi, Gu Rong, Gan Zhuo, and others raising an army, the defending forces of the Three Wu regions immediately crumbled, defecting en masse with virtually no resistance. It was less like Zhou Qi and his men were fighting and more like they were strolling in their own backyard. Only at the gates of Jianye did over ten thousand of the Langya King's personally recruited troops emerge to form ranks. But in their desperation, they were no match for Zhou Qi's tens of thousands of troops and were easily defeated. Sima Rui and Wang Dao, along with their remaining followers, were also arrested in prison carts.
Then Zhou Qi and his men turned west and personally entered the city to persuade Zhao You in Shicheng to surrender. Zhao You already knew the situation was hopeless, but he couldn't overcome his inner conflict and lacked a way to back down. Zhou Qi and Zhao You were old friends who had sparred, and Zhou Qi even vouched for him with his life. Zhao You took advantage of this and agreed to surrender. Ying Zhan of Xunyang received the news, and his will to resist weakened considerably. He was simply waiting, waiting for Shouchun to fall so he could fulfill his duty before opening the city gates.
Therefore, within a month, the area south of the Yangtze River had basically returned to calm.
Starting with Ping Shibing, this was Zhou Qi's third pacification of Jiangnan. He Pan, having learned the details, greatly admired him, and even overlooked Zhou Qi's slight rudeness. Instead, he praised Zhou Qi, saying, "Your achievements in pacifying Jiangnan are truly remarkable!"
Zhou Qi didn't consider this an achievement; he took it for granted and considered it commonplace. He didn't stand on ceremony with He Pan and immediately inquired about the current situation in Huainan, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of both sides.
This was a question that should have been easy to answer, but He Pan didn't intend to reveal the answer. Although he admired Zhou Qi, their friendship was only superficial. And He Pan understood a principle best: "A gentleman avoids speaking too intimately with someone he barely knows."
Especially at this critical juncture, the Wu people are newcomers and their sense of belonging to the Han army is not yet strong. If the current predicament is told bluntly, it may cause the Wu people to underestimate the Han army, which in turn will affect their integration into the Han army. Therefore, rather than telling them the truth, it is better to speak politely and calmly, and after experiencing some battles, a tacit understanding will naturally be established.
Therefore, He Pan merely smiled and said casually, "It's just a lack of troops. With Xuan Pei's arrival today, there's nothing to worry about. You should rest for a while. Tonight, I will host a banquet to welcome all the gentlemen of Jiangzuo."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qi teased, "Why does Lord He need to hide it from me? You abandoned Shicheng and went north, leading your army deep into Shouchun. You clearly intended to win this battle quickly. But it's almost December now, and you've been out in force for about two months. The King of Han has also ordered us Wu people to go north. This is obviously to help in an emergency. There must have been some unspeakable oversight at the front. Otherwise, things wouldn't have come to this."
Seeing Zhou Qi's keen insight, He Pan was startled, but remained calm on the surface and said, "So what? War is full of surprises, both for the enemy and for ourselves. I have my own plan to deal with the enemy, so Xuanpei need not worry."
Zhou Qi smiled and said, "This concerns the lives of our soldiers, so I dare not be careless! Lord He, please do not worry. Before I came, I had already consulted with Chang Kuan about the situation. I am telling you this because I have a plan to help you out of this predicament."
Chang Kuan was the garrison commander that He Pan had left behind to guard Hefei. He Pan did not expect that he would reveal his secret to Zhou Qi, so he could no longer pretend. He could only pretend that the conversation just now did not exist and asked directly, "Xuan Pei, what brilliant plan do you have?"
Zhou Qi slowly said, "It's not exactly a brilliant plan. I just have an idea. Why don't you give it a try, Mr. He? Even if it doesn't succeed, there's nothing to lose."
"Oh? What are your thoughts?"
"Negotiations were held with the Qi army."
These words immediately startled He Pan, whose expression then turned solemn. Any seasoned general knows that as the commander of an army, there are certain things that are his inescapable responsibility, but there are also things that he should never touch, because that would be overstepping his bounds and usurping the monarch's privilege. Zhou Qi's suggestion clearly fell into the latter category.
Zhou Qi knew exactly what he was talking about, so before He Pan could refuse, he said, "Please let me finish, Mr. He."
Seeing that He Pan seemed to agree, he continued, "Lord He, this is an untimely battle. Neither our army nor the Qi army is actually prepared for a decisive battle."
"The reason why the King of Han sent troops out of Huainan was simply to obtain the right to rule openly and legitimately. What he wanted to defeat was the last Jin court, not the Qi army. But now the Qi army has suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Even if we defeat them, what good will it do? We will only gain the land of Huainan and will not be able to march north to the Central Plains. It will only waste our troops."
"Why did the Qi army send troops to Huainan? Of course, it was because of the dispute over legitimacy. After all, the King of Han was a descendant of Zhaolie and a close relative of the Han dynasty. Although the Qi rebels also claimed to be the emperor of the Han dynasty, they were not as close to the King of Han as he was. Therefore, they did not want the King of Han to gain an advantage for no reason, so they sent troops."
"But on the other hand, they also have no goodwill towards the Jin court. Most of their soldiers are refugees who have witnessed firsthand how these powerful families prey on the common people. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they harbor deep hatred. Yet the Qi army so openly supports the Jin dynasty, fighting a bloody battle with our army, consuming mountains of food and supplies, and suffering numerous casualties, yet they haven't gained an inch of land. Are their subordinates truly willing to do this? I think not." "Therefore, neither side actually wants to fight here, or rather, it's far from the point of a decisive battle. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been locked in a stalemate until now, but would have started a decisive battle much earlier. It's just that Wang Yan stirred things up, and the unexpected siege of the Duke of Longxi has led to the current situation."
"Since neither of you is in the mood to fight, why not negotiate a peace agreement for now and withdraw your troops?"
Zhou Qi indeed possessed a keen insight into the overall situation, accurately pinpointing the predicaments of both sides in the Battle of Shouchun. From the beginning, Liu Xian did not want a direct conflict with the Qi army. Similarly, Liu Bogen did not necessarily need the imperial seal or the city; he merely hoped to suppress Liu Xian's arrogance to ensure that he would not fall behind in the struggle for legitimacy.
He Pan strongly agreed with Zhou Qi's analysis. He had actually thought about these things as well, but there was one point he didn't quite understand. So he asked, "What does Xuan Pei think about the Qi army's reinforcement of Ruyin?"
The Qi people's reinforcement of troops at Ruyin was an overly aggressive move. Logically speaking, their food and supplies were under severe strain, and reinforcing their troops was not a good option. However, the Daxing court insisted on sending reinforcements, showing a determination to fight the Han army to the death.
Zhou Qiyou analyzed, "It's very simple. This is what military strategy calls 'going against the grain.' Since neither army wants a decisive battle, it's a test of courage. They want to appear brave, so they insist on reinforcing their troops, hoping to scare our army away."
"After all, although the Duke of Longxi has an important status, he only has more than three thousand soldiers under his command. It would be obviously not worthwhile for either side to start a major war over this. At this time, as long as we give the Qi people a way out so that they don't leave empty-handed, it is very likely that they will lift the siege and withdraw their troops."
Upon hearing this, He Pan pondered for a long time before slowly nodding and saying, "Xuan Pei's words make sense, but this is not something I can decide on my own. I'm afraid I should consult my king before making a decision."
Zhou Qi waved his hand and said, "Lord He, there is no need to ask for instructions. In my opinion, the decree from the Prince of Han should arrive in a few days. He will definitely agree to the peace talks. I am just asking Lord He to prepare in advance."
"Oh?" Upon hearing this, He Pan couldn't help but scrutinize Zhou Qi and asked, "How do you know?"
Zhou Qi was already confident and spoke eloquently: "Lord He believes that we Wu people cannot fight a tough battle. Doesn't the King of Han think the same way? But he still ordered us to go north. That's the same idea as the Qi people in the north: to bolster our strength and intimidate the other side. The reason we haven't issued the order yet is simply because we haven't figured out what conditions to use for peace talks."
After Zhou Qi finished speaking, he was quite pleased with himself. He looked up to see He Pan's expression, but to his surprise, He Pan was looking at him with a complicated expression. After a long while, he slowly said, "Xuan Pei, you still haven't learned the meaning of 'it's good to be confused'."
"I'm just telling the truth." Zhou Qi smiled lightly again and said, "Master He, I have this problem. I only like to tell the truth and I don't like to tell lies. I've lived for fifty years and I still can't stand all the pretense and cover-ups in officialdom."
"You say the same thing even before my king?"
“I would say the same thing to the King of Han,” Zhou Qi said calmly. “If he is a true emperor, of course he should be able to tolerate a few loyal ministers. It is already too much for an emperor to hold all the power, but even Emperor Gaozu of Han had Zhou Chang, and Emperor Guangwu of Han had Dong Xuan. If he wants to be a tyrant like Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, then I will go home and farm. What’s wrong with that?”
These words made He Pan chuckle. He thought to himself, "That's fine. With Zhou Qi's personality, although the King of Han would find it difficult to subdue him, in reality, both his fellow townsmen and clansmen would likely find it equally difficult to tolerate him. This means that although Zhou Qi has the reputation of being the most outstanding scholar in Wu, he will probably never have the same influence as Lu Ji."
This is probably the price of being smart. The smarter a person is, the more arrogant they become, and the later they usually mature. After all, maturity is about compromising and making peace with failure. Zhou Qi doesn't understand this principle. Even though he's already in his fifties, he's still as impetuous as someone in their twenties or thirties.
He Pan then changed the subject, chatting with Zhou Qi about the details of the previous battles and the Qi army's tactics. This was something Zhou Qi wanted to hear, and he commented, "The Qi people have been fighting against strong armies with weak forces for years, suffering repeated defeats in direct combat. They haven't developed the skills to fight and kill in a desperate battle, but instead have honed their ability to escape and launch surprise attacks. Such cunning is probably extremely rare in the world. But precisely because of this, the Qi people prefer meticulous planning, so how could they possibly fight a decisive battle with our army?"
He then criticized He Pan, saying, "The water attack on Shouchun was far too conservative. It made it difficult for the Jin people inside the city to surrender. You should have used a psychological strategy. Didn't we capture some prisoners in the Battle of Chengde? You should have used the prisoners to persuade them to surrender at the city walls, letting them shoot surrender notices into the city, sowing discord by saying that the Wang clan was preparing to kill all the remaining noble families and curry favor with the Qi people in exchange for wealth and power. Wouldn't they have surrendered then? In that way, there wouldn't have been so much trouble later."
Faced with Zhou Qi's criticism, He Pan was unconcerned. He laughed and said, "I am not Zhong Hui or Deng Ai. These matters are not something a subject can decide."
Two more days passed, and the subsequent developments were exactly as Zhou Qi had predicted. Li Feng, the Minister of War, personally came from Jiang'an to convey the King of Han's decree to He Pan. The decree clearly stated: "The Qi army has raised 100,000 troops and is approaching Shouchun. Their situation is unsustainable. Instead of sending troops to fight, they are only besieging Jingming. This must be a show of force to deceive us. The Grand Commandant should make a feigned peace with them and force them to withdraw their troops."
Aside from marveling at Zhou Qi's insight, He Pan was no longer surprised. He directly asked Li Feng, "Your Highness, what are your plans for negotiating peace with the Qi rebels?"
If everything unfolds as Zhou Qi analyzed, both sides will need a way to back down, and this will be a battle of bargaining chips. The Han army holds Shouchun and the Jin court, while the Qi army has surrounded three thousand elite Han troops and the eldest son of the King of Han. What kind of exchange can serve as a dignified way to back down is the key to negotiating a withdrawal of troops.
Before Li Feng arrived, he had naturally discussed the matter with Liu Xian, Lu Zhi, and others. He quickly replied, "My king has already made arrangements. Grand Commandant, you may first use diplomacy before resorting to force. Host a banquet to invite the Qi people to attend, and my king will then demonstrate his military might to force a peace with our enemy." (End of Chapter)