Xu Fengnian pushed aside the teapot and teacup, then slowly traced a line on the table with two fingers, saying, “Before the Spring and Autumn Period, since the founding of the Great Qin Dynasty, whenever nomadic tribes from the north launched invasions or internal unrest occurred in the Central Plains, the scholars and aristocrats of the Central Plains always fled southward to escape disaster. Historically, there were several large-scale migrations across the Yangtze River, with royal families and aristocratic clans moving from north to south—always migrating further south, never crossing northward across the Guangling River. The most typical examples were the ‘Liu Clan’s Flight to Shu’ at the end of the Yongxi era and the ‘Ganlu Southern Migration’ after the fall of the Great Feng Dynasty. It can be said that the state of ‘Chu Jiang’ in the Nine Kingdoms of the Spring and Autumn Period became the dominant power largely due to the legitimacy conferred by the Ganlu Southern Migration.
“In stark contrast to the past, the Hongjia Northern Exodus, well known to all, followed two routes. One led to the capital of Liyang, Tai’an City, where the descendants of the Later Song, Great Wei, and Later Sui dynasties mostly settled, interspersed with a small number of exiles from Xichu and Nantang.”
Xu Fengnian traced another slightly winding line on the table. “About half a year later, a much larger and more widespread exodus began, involving many more aristocratic families. The most unbending in spirit, Xichu; the most decadent and luxurious, Nantang; and the most attached to their homeland, Xishu—all appeared in this tide of migration. Dozens of streams of refugees, large and small, eventually converged in the present-day Liangyou River region, entering the southern territories of the Beimang Kingdom, specifically the Gusai and Longyao provinces, creating the current flourishing scene of the Beimang Southern Court.”
Yan Wenluan nodded. “Back then, after Chu Lushan led a thousand cavalry to conquer Shu, our infantry easily defeated the Xishu army, forcing them to flee in disarray. Gu Jantang was lucky, but Gu Dazu, the pillar of Nantang, had terrible luck. Nantang was practically taken without a fight. The eight kings of the fallen states either hanged themselves, burned to death, or were captured. That’s when the old emperor of Liyang finally said, ‘At last, the Zhao family can proclaim peace across the land with the fires of Taiping.’ But what does this have to do with those four individuals? There are rumors that Master Li and Nalan Youci once traveled together during the Spring and Autumn Period. Even if that were true, serving different masters, they would never have collaborated. Let alone involving Yuan Benxi, the ‘Half-Tongued’ strategist, whom our Beiliang assassins tried repeatedly to kill but failed.”
Yan Wenluan sneered, “Your Highness, I may be a rough soldier, but I do know something of the world beyond warfare. If you’re suggesting that these four individuals, sitting as we are now around a single table, planned the Hongjia Northern Exodus, I’d laugh until I fell over. You can’t just boast like that without any basis.”
Xu Fengnian remained calm and shook his head. “Even if, hypothetically, these four individuals from different factions did come together to plot this, wouldn’t the Beimang Taiping Order, which had been observing the Spring and Autumn Period for over twenty years, have noticed something?”
Yan Wenluan couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “So what exactly are you trying to say, Your Highness?”
Xu Fengnian met the old general’s gaze steadily. For once, Yan Wenluan did not glare back but instead gave an awkward smile and waved his hand. “Go on, I won’t interrupt anymore.”
Xu Fengnian continued, “Huang Sanjia, the man who stirred up the Spring and Autumn Period with his words, actually did nothing in this unprecedented upheaval. Yet he is included in this discussion because without him, there would have been no unification under Liyang, nor the Hongjia Northern Exodus. When discussing the Spring and Autumn Period, Huang Longshi is an unavoidable figure—future historical records will say the same. Huang Sanjia used rhetoric to form alliances and sow discord, while my father used cavalry and swords to bring about the collapse of the continent. Thus, a new question arose for certain people: although the Central Plains were now pacified, there remained a northern neighbor watching hungrily from the north. This northern neighbor, who occasionally raided the southern households, was even more barbaric and uncivilized than the Liyang dynasty in the eyes of Xichu scholars. If Liyang could conquer the Central Plains, could the even more warlike Beimang Kingdom possibly go a step further and swallow Liyang itself?”
Yan Wenluan was momentarily stunned, unconsciously falling into thought. He was merely a soldier, and had never considered such a complex issue. When the Great General was alive, all the people of Beiliang, including Yan Wenluan, shared an almost arrogant confidence—that as long as the thirty thousand border troops of Beiliang stood, the Beimang barbarians would never dare to cross south of the Central Plains. That required no explanation. After the Great General’s death, the Beimang soon launched a massive invasion with a million troops, leaving Yan Wenluan no time for deep reflection. As for the old matter of the Hongjia Northern Exodus, who would care?
Xu Fengnian paused for a long time, as if choosing his words carefully. When Yan Wenluan finally looked at him inquiringly, he continued, “My master never spoke of Nalan Youci, even though they were old acquaintances. This plot was not something he told me before his death, but something I pieced together from scattered clues. Chen Xiliang, who studied the notes and journals atop the Tingchao Pavilion, sent me a secret letter last year confirming my suspicions. I can be certain that the original idea for this grand strategy was my master’s. It probably first occurred to him near the end of the Xilei Wall battle, after the conquest of Xichu, which effectively cleaned up the mess Huang Sanjia had created with his haphazard tactics. I suspect that during his journey north with Xu Xiao to the imperial court, he may have encountered Nalan Youci, who was traveling north with Prince Yanchi Zhao Bing at the time. Or perhaps they never met at all, but exchanged secret letters.
“The events that later unfolded in public, the old general should know at least something about. After suffering heavy losses in Xichu, Xu Xiao was just named King of Beiliang at court, when he declared that before taking up his post in the northwest, he would cleanse the Guangling River with blood, blocking its estuary with the corpses of Xichu scholars. Not long after, Zhao Bing became the Prince Yanchi with the most extensive territory, and soon after, a shocking massacre occurred—the remnants of Nantang rose up and killed three thousand Liyang soldiers left behind. The news reached the capital in a state of emergency. At the time, Zhao Bing was already in a bad mood, as he had been denied the prosperous Guangling Circuit, which should have been his by right of military merit, and instead was given the southern frontier, which was seen as a slap in the face. As the most bloodthirsty of the feudal lords, Zhao Bing would naturally have been furious. Legends say, ‘Zhao Bing took a sword and chopped down a Qin cypress tree, vowing to kill every able-bodied man of Nantang.'”
Yan Wenluan nodded. “That part is indeed true. The Great General used to tell us this as a joke.”
The old man suddenly exclaimed, “But if I remember correctly, when the old emperor rewarded the meritorious, the Great General was appointed King of Beiliang, pushing aside Gu Jantang. No one dared to object. Gu Jantang could only serve as Minister of War in the capital, where he built his infamous Gu Lu School under the watchful eyes of two emperors. There was a saying about that, wasn’t there?”
Xu Fengnian smiled. “A way to console oneself?”
Yan Wenluan nodded. “Exactly.”
Then Yan Wenluan returned to the topic. “But initially, the court intended to appoint Zhao Bing as Prince of Huainan. He wouldn’t even have been given the southern frontier, let alone the title of Prince Jing’an. Zhao Bing was clearly unhappy, so he requested to be appointed to Liaodong as Prince of Jiaodong. The Great General himself told us later that Zhao Bing had a private conversation with the old emperor, saying he didn’t want to follow in the Great General’s dust, but instead wished to fight the Beimang barbarians in Liaodong, vowing to die on horseback if he must. But the outcome was unexpected—Zhao Bing became Prince Yanchi. Though not as prestigious as Zhao Yi, the emperor’s younger brother, it was still much better than the unfortunate Prince Huainan Zhao Ying, who had been suppressed for most of his life.”
Yan Wenluan slapped his knee heavily and said solemnly, “This makes sense. To drive the Spring and Autumn exiles north across the Guangling River, you had to push the Shu, Chu, and Tang states, especially those aristocratic families with ‘centuries-old states and millennia-old lineages,’ to the point of desperation. They would never willingly become homeless dogs after their kingdoms fell. Your Highness, this is where the fourth strategist, Yuan Benxi, later the imperial tutor of Liyang, played his part. Did Master Li really have some secret connection with him back then?”
Xu Fengnian shook his head. “No. Yuan Benxi only served the Zhao family.”
Yan Wenluan, now like a young student seeking knowledge, asked curiously, “Your Highness, what do you mean by that?”
But Xu Fengnian was lost in thought.
Yan Wenluan felt helpless but had no face to ask again. Besides, if Xu Fengnian wouldn’t speak, couldn’t he think for himself? After a moment of contemplation, the old man suddenly exclaimed, “After all this traveling, just drinking tea is dull as a bird’s song. Your Highness, how about some wine?”
Xu Fengnian smiled and stood to fetch wine. When he returned with two jugs of green ant wine, Yan Wenluan eagerly opened one and drank three large gulps before stopping, wiping his mouth and grinning. “Your Highness, when you say Yuan Benxi was calculating for the Zhao emperor, you mean he didn’t trust those deeply entrenched aristocrats in the eight kingdoms. Since he disliked them and feared they might cause trouble, delaying Emperor Zhao Dun’s planned great campaign against the Beimang, he decided to drive them out altogether? It’s just like how Liyang officials must serve in distant posts.”
After finally reaching this conclusion, Yan Wenluan quickly doubted himself again and had to ask once more, “But would Yuan Benxi really allow so many so-called aristocrats to flee to the Beimang all at once?”
Suddenly realizing something, Yan Wenluan’s eyes turned cold, and his tone grew more restrained as he fixed his gaze on Xu Fengnian. “Since the first year of the Yonghui era, Liyang has imposed a strict law: any official who allows ten jin of iron or a single craftsman to flow into the Beimang will be exiled three thousand miles. In Jizhou, Hezhou, and the eastern front of Liaodong, many have risked their lives for profit over the years, yet few have been punished. But in our Beiliang, under Master Li’s guidance, over a dozen generals and officers have been executed in twenty years.”
Yan Wenluan gripped the large white bowl that had held both tea and wine, narrowed his eyes, and said darkly, “Your Highness, since you’ve brought up the Hongjia Northern Exodus today, there must be a deeper meaning. I absolutely refuse to believe that Master Li and Nalan Youci wanted to strengthen the Beimang, giving them a southern court and nearly a million Spring and Autumn exiles who constantly claim to be the rightful heirs of the Central Plains. But if Your Highness cannot give me a satisfactory explanation today, then I, on behalf of the fallen soldiers of Wo Gong and Luan He cities, and all the future border troops of Beiliang who will die in battle, will dare to demand an explanation from Your Highness!”
Xu Fengnian did not rush to defend himself. Instead, he dipped his finger in the wine and marked two points on the table—one at the north and one at the south. “To make this happen, a situation of ‘locking the door and beating the dog’ had to be created first. Zhao Bing, who had vowed to kill every able-bodied man of Nantang, was the one to carry out the dirty work. In fact, he did kill tens of thousands of Nantang prisoners as soon as he arrived in the southern frontier. Among them, only a few thousand were truly rebellious, while the vast majority were innocent victims. Once the dirty work was done, someone had to close the door. That was Xu Xiao’s role. However, back then, Yuan Benxi, who felt betrayed by my master and Nalan Youci, took corrective action. Like you, Yuan Benxi hoped those aristocratic families would ‘die when uprooted,’ not interfering with his plan to assist Emperor Zhao Dun in fighting the Beimang. However, Yuan Benxi certainly did not expect the second wave of the Hongjia Northern Exodus to head straight into the enemy’s territory—the Beimang Kingdom. His original intention was for Xu Xiao’s army to move swiftly and block the northwest gate before this exodus, driving these doomed people back to the capital region to join the first wave of refugees. Hence, the imperial court hastily ordered Cai Nan, a trusted general under Gu Jantang, to head west. However, at that time, neither Xu Xiao nor the Han family of Jizhou, for their own reasons, blocked Cai Nan’s advance, causing Cai Nan, who had few cavalry at his disposal, to fail in his mission. Later, Liyang dared not touch Xu Xiao, but could they not deal with the Han family? Thus, the Han family was soon executed en masse. One escaped at the time, but now, as a descendant of loyalists, he was restored by a single imperial decree. Zhang Julu presided over this matter, and he truly wanted to eliminate the Han family. But to say that he did so out of personal grudge due to his teacher’s influence would be to underestimate him greatly.”
Xu Fengnian lifted the wine jug but did not drink. “The reason Yuan Benxi did not pursue the matter further was simple: after several major battles, Liyang suffered consecutive defeats, and the elite troops of the Zhao family were severely depleted. Then, unexpectedly, the Beimang was preoccupied with consolidating the Southern Court, giving Liyang a chance to catch its breath and gradually recover its strength. Moreover, Yuan Benxi did not believe that in the future contest of national strength, Liyang would lose to the Beimang. Thus, the Hongjia Northern Exodus gradually became a forgotten liability. The Liyang court and officials dared not speak of it, for this was the only untouchable secret of Emperor Zhao Dun, known for his enlightened rule.”
Yan Wenluan, who had almost smashed the bowl and stormed out, frowned and asked, “So you’re implying that those northern migrants burdened the Beimang?”
Yan Wenluan quickly shook his head and said, “No! Although those people from the Spring and Autumn Period indeed somewhat weakened the martial spirit of the Northern Barbarians, for that old woman, accepting them brings more benefits than drawbacks. Now they are attacking Youzhou’s Hulu Pass and Liangzhou’s Tiger Head City, which already proves this point. Their siege methods are no different from those of the Central Plains. Take Hulu Pass as an example; the vanguard general Zhong Tan attacked the Sleeping Bow City and the Luanhua City with the leisure of military training. He attacked only one side at Sleeping Bow, seemingly like child’s play. But soon at Luanhua, he began trying the strategy of surrounding three sides and leaving one open. Even after breaching the city walls, he cruelly forced his troops into street fighting when entering the city, causing fewer casualties on both sides in localized battles. If their campaign against Beiliang is already so methodical, what will happen if the Northern Barbarians ever get the chance to attack the cities of the Central Plains? Except for Xishu and the Two Liao regions, who can hold their ground? The army of King Yan of Zhao Bing? If the Northern Barbarians reach the Southern Frontier, will it still matter? Even setting aside the battlefield, the Taiping Decree has already prepared for how to fill the ranks with numerous bureaucrats skilled in governance after conquering Beiliang, thus stabilizing the rear and allowing the Northern Barbarian cavalry to march south without worries. Twenty years ago, even if the Northern Barbarians dared to dream of this, they could never have achieved it!”
Xu Fengnian smiled and asked, “Old General, have you ever considered why Xu Xiao and Li Yishan did not oppose my going to the Northern Barbarians, but actually supported it?”
Yan Wenluan’s face remained gloomy, but the murderous intent he had shown earlier had completely vanished. He slowly shook his head.
Xu Fengnian gazed out the window at the gradually brightening sky, gently set down the wine jug, and softly said, “Old General, just wait patiently. Back then, when I went to the Northern Barbarians alone, I was only delivering a message to certain people. It was risky, wasn’t it? But if I hadn’t taken such a risk, how could I have convinced others to willingly take even greater risks? As for who in the Northern Barbarians still remembers our original intentions, I don’t know, but I’m sure there are many. If I don’t know, then the old woman and the Taiping Decree in the Northern Barbarians are even less likely to guess.”
Yan Wenluan stood there like a wooden chicken.
Xu Fengnian stood up and looked down at the table, where the wine stains had long since vanished, and said, “Perhaps you might ask, can those scholars be trusted?”
Xu Fengnian chuckled to himself, “A few years ago, if anyone had nodded, I would have taken it as a joke. But in this world, among the scholars we’ve both experienced during the Spring and Autumn Periods, there was Wang Mingyang, who held out in Xiangfan for ten years, and Zhang Julu, who practically walked into his own death.”
Yan Wenluan exhaled bitterly and said, “There was also Wei Jingtang in Jizhou. In fact, during the Spring and Autumn Period, there were many such scholars who met their deaths with dignity. Of course, I, Yan Wenluan, have personally killed many of them.”
Xu Fengnian walked to the window, “Huang Sanjia once said that the world would certainly see more people who can afford to read and write. The general trend is an unstoppable decline in morality and worsening of societal values. However, not everyone who reads and writes can truly be called a ‘scholar’ in Huang Sanjia’s sense.”
Xu Fengnian stretched out his hand and slowly clenched it into a fist, “The more one knows and possesses, the less reverence one has—this is only human nature. Would the young prince who hadn’t yet retrained with the saber a few years ago dare to disrespect the celestial beings?”
“The heart is like a monkey, and the mind like a galloping horse… Daoism warns us with ‘the heart monkey is unsettled, and the mind horse gallops in all directions,’ while Buddhism speaks of ‘controlling the mind and taming the monkey and horse.’ But how exactly to do this is too vague and abstract for the common people, who find reading and writing a luxury they cannot afford. Confucianism, however, is simple and clear—it uses the single character, Li (ritual). Li is both a framework and, in fact, a cage. The common people may not understand, but that’s okay—we establish detailed rules, and they just need to follow them. I think this is one of the main reasons why Confucianism emerged as the dominant school among the hundred thinkers and eventually overshadowed all others. Of course, everyone naturally longs for freedom and dislikes being constrained. In such an almost irreconcilable conflict, Confucianism clashed greatly with the Mohists, who believed in the inherent evil of human nature. The Confucian sages early on proposed the idea of inherent goodness, and later scholars continuously used various methods to subtly influence people. For example, when young children begin to read, they are forced to memorize texts like the ‘Three Hundred, Thousand, and Hundred’ or face punishment. In the end, this is the power of education. Interestingly, the Daoist sages then chimed in, saying, ‘Abandon wisdom and knowledge, and the people will benefit a hundredfold; abandon benevolence and righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and parental affection.’ Who is right and who is wrong? Perhaps there is no right or wrong.”
“Huang Sanjia’s destruction of the Spring and Autumn Period was merely giving the world an earlier opportunity to choose ‘freedom.’ As for Zhang Julu, who spent twenty years mending and patching up the Liyang realm, he used his own death to prepare a framework for the future ‘freedom’ he had encouraged behind the Zhao family’s back. Perhaps his efforts were in vain and meaningless, but since he could think of it and do it, he did it—that was Zhang Julu. I, Xu Fengnian, could not do it, nor could you, Yan Wenluan, or those famous ministers of the Yonghui Spring. Even Tan Tan Weng and Qi Yanglong could not do it. In fact, no one else could do it except that ‘blue-eyed’ Zhang Julu.”
“Perhaps Huang Sanjia, who could no longer ‘corrupt’ the world with his words, left us one last saying: ‘To know me or to condemn me, only the Spring and Autumn can decide.’”
“As for the former Prime Minister Zhang Julu, who left no last letter or final words, he should have left a smiling message to all the future generations who considered him a fool: ‘You are not a fish, so how can you know the joy or sorrow of a fish?’”
Yan Wenluan, holding the wine jug, stood beside Xu Fengnian. This was the first time he had heard Xu Fengnian speak at such length. The young man who had killed in Lanzhou and Youzhou had never been this verbose before.
But Yan Wenluan was not at all annoyed.
With one hand behind his back and the other pouring wine into his mouth, he drank it all and then shook the jug, still wanting more, and asked, “What about Master Li?”
When Yan Wenluan turned his head, he saw the young man smiling, pointing northward. Xu Fengnian’s face bore a kind of elegance that a rough warrior like Yan Wenluan could never possess.
“People always say my master is ruthless and fond of annihilating entire families. The northern exodus of the Hongjia scholars was his way of wiping out the seed of scholars from the Central Plains. Then in Beiliang, those more than 100,000 refugees were just a small test. What comes next will probably be the Northern Barbarians.”
Yan Wenluan sighed, then laughed heartily, “Prince, my heartache is gone. It’s funny, really—I came all the way to Yan Zhi Prefecture intending to flatter you shamelessly. The battles outside the Hulu Pass were fought beautifully by you and Yu Luandao! The establishment of the Undisbanded Battalion greatly boosted the morale of the entire Youzhou! But then things turned sour, and just now I was about to flip the table and start a fight. Of course, in the end, I would have been the one beaten to the ground, looking for my old teeth. Although the Prince did not spell everything out, I, Yan Wenluan, believe in the Great General and in Master Li. Now that I’ve made up my mind, I understand why Master Li never believed in Chen Zhibao from the beginning. With this northern exodus of Hongjia, if Beiliang is handed over to him, after defeating the Northern Barbarians, the next war in the eyes of the scholars—the next unjust Spring and Autumn War—will surely come.”
Xu Fengnian said nothing, his expression somewhat weary.
Yan Wenluan hesitated for a moment, but still spoke, “Prince, there’s something I must say, or else it will choke me inside! Although Chen Zhibao has left Beiliang, I, Yan Wenluan, dare to guarantee that during all these years in Beiliang, he never harbored any thoughts of rebellion. He was certainly dissatisfied with you, but he never had any murderous intent. I believe he was simply waiting—if the Great General were gone and you, Xu Fengnian, could not hold up Beiliang, then he would step forward and make Beiliang his own. As for what the entire world will become afterward—whether it will belong to the Murongs, the Zhaos, or the Chens—that will depend entirely on Chen Zhibao’s ability.”
Xu Fengnian smiled and said, “I know.”
Yan Wenluan asked quietly, “Truly?”
Xu Fengnian turned his head, “Then how could I not know?”
Yan Wenluan burst into laughter, “It seems you really do know. I, Yan Wenluan, must have been the one with the petty heart, suspecting a noble man.”
Xu Fengnian laughed along, “So you’re calling me names?”
Yan Wenluan was first startled, then after a moment’s thought, the smile in his single eye deepened, though he pretended to sigh in exasperation, “The tongues of scholars are simply too sharp. One cannot help but admire them.”
Finally, the commander of the Beiliang infantry, who had arrived dusty and weary, suddenly bowed deeply, “Prince, I’m off! Just like when we first met in Youzhou, if there’s ever an opportunity, even if I am already lying in my coffin, I will be carried to the Northern Barbarian court.”
Before Xu Fengnian could say anything, the old man turned and strode away. As he passed the table, he stopped for a moment, shouted, “Catch!” and threw the wine jug to Xu Fengnian, “Consider this my way of offering the Prince a drink.”
Xu Fengnian raised his hand and caught the jug, watching the old man’s back disappear past the threshold, his face full of surprise. He murmured to himself, “Now, when have guests ever used the host’s wine to treat the host?”
Yan Wenluan strode down the corridor. Earlier, he had wanted to add “I believe in you, Xu Fengnian” after saying “I believe in the Great General and in Master Li,” but he had held himself back. Now, he murmured to himself, “Great General, fighting like this is truly exhilarating. It’s just like the old days, following you—nothing to fear but death itself!”
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