Coming now to ask about marriage matters

Back to the matter of the surrender memorial, does Zhang Xun need to find someone with an eloquent literary style and yet no strong moral backbone to join his small faction of capitulationists?

What a pity. Looking around at the people near him, everyone appeared full of generous spirit and loyalty to the royal cause. Even among the pageboys, servants, Taoist priests, and ordinary monks and laymen, not a single particularly spineless individual could be discerned.

Who was it in history that surrendered Jiankang, which is modern-day Nanjing? And who surrendered Runzhou? They must have been disciples and old acquaintances of Lü Wenhuan’s household. Whether they were specifically the officials currently in office remains unclear.

Fan Wenhu of Anqing surrendered quite quickly, but he was even less capable than Zhang Xun, who at least had a rudimentary grasp of literature and writing. Wait, Lü Shikui of Jiangxi was definitely going to surrender; it was a safe bet he had already hooked up with Lü Wenhuan.

Yet this fellow seemed to lack any culture whatsoever...

How vexing.

"Tap, tap, tap." While Zhang Xun was deep in annoyance, he noticed Madam Zhang and her elderly maid knocking on the door outside the hall.

"Mother." Zhang Xun hurriedly stood up and invited Madam Zhang inside to take a seat.

Madam Zhang did not have any major news; she was simply holding a letter to show Zhang Xun. Earlier, Zhang Cheng had sent a letter asking Zhang Xun to dissuade Lu Xiufu from taking up his post at the Directorate of Military Weapons, prompting Zhang Xun to send Xie La along with the messenger to reply to Hangzhou.

Just moments ago, Xie La returned to Changzhou carrying Zhang Cheng's reply. Seeing Zhang Xun discussing matters with Li Rang, he familiarly sought out Madam Zhang. Madam Zhang showered him with pastries and soup until his mouth was full, only then mentioning that Eldest Brother Zhang had sent a letter.

Upon opening it, there were two matters. First, Zhang Cheng inquired whether Madam Zhang had helped Zhang Xun choose a good match for marriage. Previously, when Zhang Xun was younger and spent four or five years in mourning, it had been inconvenient to bring it up. Now that Zhang Xun was twenty, it was high time to select a spouse as soon as possible.

Upon returning to Hangzhou, Lu Xiufu had discussed this very matter with Zhang Cheng. Lu Xiufu’s suggestion was to consider Li Tingzhi’s daughter, guaranteeing that her dowry and trousseau would be fully prepared—amounting to no less than fifty thousand strings of cash—depending on what the old Zhang family thought.

The second matter concerned a rumor, but in the court at Hangzhou, rumors often equated to facts. Once the imperial court stepped out to issue a denial, the rumor was entirely cemented as the truth.

Liu Zheng had been ordered to serve as the Military Commissioner of the Henan Branch Bureau of the Privy Council, commanding an army of forty thousand to attack the eastern and western circuits of Huainan. Now that the main army had advanced to the various borders along the Huai River, trouble was likely about to erupt in Huainan as well.

Crucially, the pacification commissioners of eastern and western Huainan had both been transferred to the Han River to desperately defend the confluence of the Han River and the Yangtze River, preventing the Mongol naval forces from crossing the river. With neither Yangzhou nor Luzhou garrisoned by anyone, the court would undoubtedly select capable officials anew.

The rumor—oh, a pure rumor—had it that Grand Counselor Jia Shidao intended to edge out Zhang Cheng, dispatching him outward as the Vice Pacification Commissioner of the Two Huainan Circuits, Prefect of Yangzhou, and Attendant-in-Waiting of the Xianmo Pavilion.

Huh?

Marry Li Tingzhi’s daughter? Zhang Xun was first astonished at what kind of matchmaking Lu Xiufu was trying to pull. Then he worried that Zhang Cheng might truly be sent out as the Prefect of Yangzhou. Once he entered Yangzhou, how could he possibly hold off a seasoned veteran like Liu Zheng?

Should the city of Yangzhou fall, Zhang Cheng would inevitably commit suicide to loyalize the nation. This was something Zhang Xun was unwilling to see by any means. The reason he wanted to surrender was to shoulder all the infamy himself, allowing his close relatives, entire clan, and every single townsman and villager in the commandery to escape with their lives.

If Zhang Cheng were to commit suicide alongside his wife and children to martyr himself for the state, wouldn't Zhang Xun’s surrender have been in vain?

Seeing Zhang Xun’s eyes rolling incessantly, Madam Zhang assumed he was pondering his own marriage prospects, and so she remarked that the daughter of the Prefect of Lizhou must surely be excellent. They could secretly write a letter to Runzhou first—wasn't Zhang Xun’s eldest sister taking care of Li Tingzhi’s family there? They could check out the young lady’s appearance and disposition.

If not for the absence of a suitable daughter in the Wuxi Li family, Madam Zhang would have betrothed Zhang Xun long ago.

Wait, my dear mother, aren't you worried that your eldest son is going to guard Yangzhou? When Zhang Xun threw out this question, Madam Zhang did not show much surprise.

She simply felt that if the court truly issued the decree, then he should go. When it came to defending cities, no one was born knowing how; you went and learned on the job while defending it. No matter how formidable Liu Zheng was, he only had about forty thousand troops.

For a force of forty thousand to capture the major stronghold of Yangzhou was an almost impossible feat. As the headquarters of the Huainan defense line that Li Tingzhi had managed for many years, even if Bayan himself came leading a Mongol-Han army of two hundred thousand, he would still crack several teeth trying.

That may be true in theory, but the problem was that Zhang Xun knew another person with lofty integrity and zero military capability who might defend Yangzhou—that would simply be a disaster.

Yet no matter how anxious Zhang Xun felt inside, Madam Zhang seemed completely unconcerned. Whether it was the Jinling Zhang clan or the Wuxi Li clan, theirs was a family tradition of dedicating themselves to the sovereign’s service across ten thousand miles without asking for anything in return. Li Zhu was already sixty years old, yet he was still leading people to take up his post in Chongqing. That was Madam Zhang’s own elder brother, and Madam Zhang had not tried to stop him either.

Instead, she felt that Zhang Xun’s marriage was far more urgent.

Alas, why bother?

Yet, marrying now meant they could probably pick and choose. Once Zhang Xun surrendered to Bayan and became a subject of the new dynasty, he would likely only be able to choose a spouse from the families of other turncoat officials. It was even possible those turncoats would be unwilling to intermarry with Zhang Xun, because Zhang Xun's relatives, such as Lu Xiufu, would surely protect the emperor and flee south.

What if the marriage fell through and he just brought a load of trouble upon himself?

Just as he hesitated, a government runner rushed inside, announcing that the post station had received a letter. The imperial decree had already been issued: Eldest Brother Zhang Cheng of the Zhang family had been appointed as the Vice Pacification Commissioner of the Two Huainan Circuits, Prefect of Yangzhou, and Attendant-in-Waiting of the Xianmo Pavilion. The official boat would arrive in Changzhou tomorrow. He requested Zhang Xun to go to the Mooring Pavilion at the foot of the city wall to welcome his eldest brother.

Now look at that—Zhang Xun and Madam Zhang were both startled simultaneously. Talk of the devil, the very thing they least wanted to happen was the one that came to pass. Zhang Cheng coming to Changzhou was not merely a stopover; he would undoubtedly conscript fresh levies here in Changzhou.

The forty thousand troops of eastern Huainan had followed Gao Da to Ezhou. With eastern Huainan's military strength currently hollowed out, Zhang Cheng, as Prefect of Yangzhou, would definitely need to bring a certain cadre of followers with him when he set out.

Damn it!

Ma Yong was probably beyond saving...

No matter what he thought in his heart, Zhang Xun immediately stood up and hurried toward the city before dark. Madam Zhang also began packing up temporarily; she naturally cared deeply for her eldest son's family.

Since the official boat needed time to travel from Wuxi to Changzhou anyway, she could set out from home and enter the city early tomorrow morning. Calculating the time normally, she would definitely make it.

The relatives of the main branch and minor branches of the clan all needed to be properly notified. Now that Zhang Cheng was going out to govern a major province, his status and prestige were high. The fortunes of the old Zhang family rose and fell together. Since Zhang Cheng had made his mark, they had to stand by him and help uphold the family's standing and reputation in their hometown of Changzhou.

Only by seeing the old Zhang family flourish in wealth and high official status, adorned with official caps and sashes, could the family maintain its transcendent position in Changzhou and preserve its reputation as the premier noble family of Wu.

The household servants and close neighbors began beating gongs and drums to spread the word outside, telling everyone to put aside all their affairs tomorrow and go to the Mooring Pavilion at the city wall to welcome the eldest brother.

Upon hearing the news, family members and clansmen threw open their doors, filled with immense joy. Everyone declared that the eldest brother of the main family had made something of himself. They made mutual appointments to travel in groups, with some, just like Zhang Xun, setting off toward the city right then and there.