Meng Su shook his head. “What if we scattered fifty or sixty thousand troops throughout your Junzhou, looking for opportunities to strike at the Jiao army? What do you think?”
He had learned this tactic from the Jinyang army. Although he had never tried it before, he felt it was perfectly suited to the situation Quzhao now found itself in.
Of course, he also understood that this was essentially a strategy in which both sides would suffer.
The Jinyang army’s dispersed strikes were all supported by fortified cities, and most of their operations took place in the areas surrounding those cities.
But Quzhao had nothing now. If they adopted this strategy, their troops would be spread very thin, making it difficult to regroup quickly.
If they encountered a large-scale sweep by the Jiao army, they would be in great danger without any cities to fall back on.
That did not stop him from bringing the matter up as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Jiao army.
Jiao Tai’s heart tightened, and anger surged through him.
But if Quzhao’s army really did this, it would indeed cause them considerable trouble.
Meng Su continued, “Besides, Anwu County is already in the hands of the Han Chinese. If we take it ourselves, you won’t have to waste troops defending it everywhere.”
“Having us as neighbors is certainly better than having the Han Chinese as neighbors. After all, we all came from beyond the passes.”
The situation in Anwu County was somewhat similar to that of Daqing, though Tian Xiang of Anwu had far greater ambitions than Lu You of Daqing.
Tian Xiang had originally been the magistrate of Anwu County. He had his own way of doing things, and during his tenure, he won over the county commandant and the other officials, gaining firm control over the entire county.
His wife’s younger brother was also a military commander stationed in Qiuning Commandery, so Tian Xiang had thrived there.
Perhaps Tian Xiang had harbored rebellious intentions from the beginning. Or perhaps he was simply farsighted. Seeing that the situation was turning unfavorable, he gathered the surrounding people, money, and grain under his control.
He then swiftly recruited soldiers, forming an army of tens of thousands in an extremely short time.
His wife’s younger brother even persuaded roughly three thousand soldiers from the Qiuning garrison to defect. They followed him to Anwu County and became part of Tian Xiang’s forces.
Later, when Dingyang appealed to him for aid, Tian Xiang not only turned a blind eye but also seized Chunyi County beside Anwu, declaring himself independent and proclaiming himself King of Anwu.
The two counties he occupied had extremely favorable terrain. They were almost completely cut off from the other counties of Qiuning Commandery by the Shishan River.
For that reason, the Jiao army had attacked several times, only to retreat in defeat.
After realizing how difficult Anwu’s army was to defeat, the Jiao army prepared to gather a large force and attack again. At that point, Tian Xiang sent an envoy to announce that so long as the Jiao army did not attack him, he was willing to provide them with fifty thousand dan of grain and twenty thousand bolts of cloth each year.
Anwu and Chunyi were not large counties. Even if the Jiao army conquered them, their people were not skilled farmers, and the amount they could harvest each year would probably not be much greater than what Tian Xiang was offering.
At the time, the Jiao army was expanding southward into the fertile regions of Haijia and Si Prefectures. Since the King of Anwu was sensible enough to pay tribute each year, postponing an attack on Anwu became the best choice.
Jiao Tai gave a cold laugh. “Anwu County currently provides my Jiao army with fifty thousand dan of grain and twenty thousand bolts of cloth every year. What can you, Quzhao, offer us?”
The Great Chanyu frowned. He truly had not known about this.
He had previously wondered why the Jiao army had continued to leave the King of Anwu alone. Now he understood.
Meng Su’s brows drew together. “Those who are not of our race will always harbor different intentions. Even if he pays you tribute for now, how do you know what he is planning?”
“He could stab you in the back one day. Wouldn’t it be better for us to capture Anwu ourselves? We can trust our own people more.”
Mu Qi laughed in exasperation and said bluntly, “Are you one of our own? Instead of wasting time here haggling with us, you’d be better off thinking about how to retake Fengzhou.”
Jiao Tai nodded. “Exactly. If you want to retake Fengzhou, perhaps we could offer you some assistance.”
The Great Chanyu frowned. He knew very well that this matter would be difficult to negotiate.
Even if he had to face the Jiao army, he was unwilling to fight the Jinyang army again. They were simply a nightmare.
Seeing the expression on the Quzhao Great Chanyu’s face, Jiao Tai’s eyes flickered. After a moment, he said, “Alternatively, you could consider heading toward Chongzhou.”
The Ji army was far weaker than the Jiao army—not merely by a little.
That was why he could not understand why Quzhao had chosen to come and seize territory from the Jiao army.
The Quzhao Great Chanyu pondered. “Perhaps you could send a message to your Great Chanyu. He might agree.”
A trace of mockery flashed through Jiao Tai’s eyes, though his face remained expressionless. “Very well. In that case, rest and recover for now.”
Since they could not reach an agreement, they could only set the matter aside for the moment. Jiao Tai hoped that the Quzhao army would be clever enough not to make any trouble.
In the county office of Wuqin, Jiang Jin was handling official business. Now that all of Fengzhou had been conquered, she would be taking a temporary break here, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
As her territory grew larger, there were more and more matters for her to handle and decisions for her to make.
Dong Si hurried in. “My lord.”
Jiang Jin did not look up and continued dealing with the documents. “Well?”
Dong Si’s face was filled with delight. “Apart from leaving behind sixty thousand dan of grain, Quzhao also left behind a great deal of money and goods that they did not have time to take with them.”
Jiang Jin smiled. “Good. Have everything counted and placed into storage.”
Remembering something, Dong Si asked, “My lord, are you planning to build a wharf in Ningding Commandery as well?”
Ningding Commandery had no wharf. Quzhao had once built a simple temporary pier there, hoping to transport grain and salt from Donghu Commandery. Unfortunately, Jiang Jin had intercepted all the ships, and the temporary pier had never been used even once.
Only then did Jiang Jin look up at him. “Yes. Water transport is extremely convenient, so we should make use of it.”
Dong Si had also experienced the convenience of water transport by now. But when he thought of Ningding Commandery’s situation, he could not help frowning.
“The two coastal counties of Ningding Commandery are both in Lu You’s hands. I’m afraid he won’t agree.”
Yun Chengxuan, who had been dozing off while reading nearby, slammed his hand on the table. “How dare he refuse? I’ll cut the crap out of him!”
Jiang Jin secretly rolled her eyes. “Yun Chengxuan, do you know five hundred characters yet?”
Yun Chengxuan immediately wilted. “Auntie, five hundred characters is too many. But I know the characters for ‘five’ and ‘hundred.’ Doesn’t that count as knowing five hundred characters?”
Dongzhi burst out laughing. When everyone turned to look at her, she hurriedly pinched herself to suppress the smile on her face.
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” she said. “I just thought of something happy.”
Yun Chengxuan did not realize she was laughing at him and instead asked curiously, “What happy thing? Is there something delicious to eat?”
Dongzhi nodded despite herself. “Yes.”
Yun Chengxuan was about to ask what kind of delicious food it was when Jiang Jin waved her hand helplessly. “All right, go outside and play.”
Yun Chengxuan brightened. What he disliked most was reading and writing, but Auntie always made him study. He did not want to disappoint her, so he could only hold a book and let the book recognize him.
Either way, it was all about recognizing one another. Who recognized whom made no difference.
“Then I’m going to find Golden Rice Bowl.”
He hopped out of the room.
Yun Chengxuan was a man of his word. Since he had promised not to kill Golden Rice Bowl, he would not kill him.
Whenever he went on a mission, he would bring Golden Rice Bowl along whenever circumstances allowed.
Dong Si sighed emotionally. “Young Master Yun is so pure-hearted. He’s the only person who could become friends with a boar.”
Jiang Jin helplessly returned to the subject at hand. “I want to build a wharf in Zhangchang County. Lu You will agree.”
Dong Si thought for a moment. “You… you intend to take Zhangchang County back?”
