66. Mass Arrests Across Four Districts, Driven Entirely by the Common People

January, the tenth year of Xianchun.

Everything was heading in a grim direction. Jiangzhou in Jiangxi fell without even catching a sight of the Yuan vanguard; instead, led by Lu Shikui, the garrison marched a hundred and twenty li out of the city to surrender.

At this time, Wen Tianxiang, who had been reassigned as the prefect of Ganzhou and served as the Jiangxi Pacification Commissioner, had mustered thirty to forty thousand men and was ordered to retreat toward Hangzhou. With the northern part of Jiangxi surrendered and the south leaderless, the vast province was instantly plunged into chaos.

The imperial court promptly appointed Xie Fangde, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Jiangxi Inspection Commissioner, as the prefect of Xinzhou to organize local resistance against the Yuan forces in Jiangxi. Previously, Xie Fangde had strongly recommended Lu Shikui to the court to govern Jiangxi. Upon learning that Lu Shikui had surrendered after advancing merely a hundred li, Xie Fangde reportedly felt immense shame over his poor judgment of character and attempted to commit suicide on the spot.

Fortunately, the imperial decree arrived in time, ordering him to immediately organize volunteer forces. Only then did he rally the local militia, hoard provisions, and swear an oath to execute Lu Shikui so as to clear his own reputation.

Following the fall of Jiangzhou, the lower reaches of the Yangtze immediately collapsed. Fan Wenhu in Anqing became even more proactive: he immediately sealed the prefectural granaries and arsenals, strictly disciplined his troops, and took the military equipment, grain, and supplies originally stored in Anqing to support Ezhou, using them all as stepping stones for his own advancement by surrendering to Bayan. Bayan, being courteous, immediately appointed Fan Wenhu as the Grand Commander of the Two Zhelangs and ordered his army to come and serve.

Come to think of it, the military rations and equipment that Jia Sidao had intended to use in Anqing were also swallowed up in Fan Wenhu's betrayal. Even if Chancellor Jia wished to recapture Anqing, it would likely prove exceedingly difficult now.

However, these were matters happening hundreds or thousands of li away. Zhang Xun, who had been busy at home preparing for the Winter Solstice and New Year celebrations while aiding relatives and friends, learned that the court's final army of 130,000 men had set out past Wuxi and was now approaching Changzhou. Having no other choice, as a representative of the local gentry, he had to go to the Mooring Pavilion to receive them and present local tributes.

By the way, Wang Lixin, whom Jia Sidao had previously cursed as a "blind scoundrel," had recently met with Jia Sidao and wept bitterly in each other's arms. Jia Sidao lamented that had he known earlier, he would have desperately exhausted Emperor Zhao Qi's treasury, taking those thirty million strings of cash to recruit fifty thousand able-bodied men and garrison them all along the river.

Wang Lixin replied that saying such things now was utterly useless; the first priority was to release the Yuan envoys. They should first ask if sending millions in silver and silk to Kublai Khan could buy them a chance at survival.

The words made sense, so the elderly Wang was appointed as the Pacification Ambassador of Jianghuai, commanding all the imperial relief armies, waiting at Hangzhou for the naval forces to assemble, guarding Jia Sidao's rear, and going to garrison Jiankang.

The army of 130,000 men, comprising both cavalry and infantry, marched alongside the supply route, stretching over a hundred li from front to rear. The vanguard had already left Changzhou by some thirty to fifty li before the vanguard of Jia Sidao's central army even came into view.

Unsurprisingly, the vanguard general Sun Huchen would camp and spend the night at Benniu Market, while the commander-in-chief Jia Sidao could lodge within Changzhou city. As for Liu Shiyong, commander of the rear guard? Ha, he was busy pressing trackers into service along the canal.

To reiterate an old saying: one must not beautify a person's entire character simply because they possess noble integrity.

Liu Shiyong was indeed loyal to the Song dynasty, but many of the vessels in the rear naval force under his command were civilian boats requisitioned by force. Some were even massive seagoing junks, fully loaded with soldiers, provisions, and equipment, with a draft of nearly two meters.

Had it not been for the humid spell of the minor spring thaw during this period, these ships could never have entered the canal channels. Even having managed to enter now, movement was extremely difficult, necessitating the capture of able-bodied men along the riverbanks to serve as trackers.

Liu Shiyong was already a high-ranking general at the rank of Surveillance Commissioner; to expect him to harbor any deep concern for ordinary commoners would be pure joking. He was not noble enough to betray his own class.

Thus, even as Zhang Xun was bowing to Jia Sidao by the canal, word was sent to him from behind that the government troops had seized quite a few tenant farmers and clansmen from the Zhang family and were now driving them with whips to haul the boats.

*Send someone to speak with the authorities at least to fish our family members back.*

Ah, what a mess. Zhang Xun had wanted to see what Jia Sidao looked like, but he could only catch a distant glimpse of an old man, whose hair was completely white, and though he was slightly well-preserved, he was covered in numerous age spots. Having grown this old, could the Great Song truly have only a geriatric squad left to support it?

Yet age had its advantages; Jia Sidao lacked the energy to attend to everything in person. He merely accepted Zhao Rujian's kowtow, waved dismissively at the rest of the gentry, and entered the city to take up residence in the Flower Pavilion.

The Flower Pavilion was Su Dongpo's former Wisteria Flower Pavilion, an exquisite and refined retreat, and Jia Sidao desired peace and quiet.

Fine then. Zhang Xun turned around, mounted his horse, and galloped twenty li behind the Song army's central forces. As soon as he spotted Liu Shiyong's great banner, he immediately shouted toward the flagship, "Commissioner Liu!"

Several of Liu Shiyong's personal guards naturally recognized Zhang Xun, having eaten, drunk, and rested at Zhang Xun's estate for several days. Therefore, they did not drive Zhang Xun away and instead invited him directly aboard the ship.

Sure enough, Liu Shiyong immediately came out to greet Zhang Xun, repeatedly thanking him for the travel and relocation funds he had provided. As for the few hundred remnants of his defeated troops under his command, he didn't mention them at all; hadn't he just taken control of tens of thousands of naval troops anyway? The backbone of his personal officers was still intact, so gathering an army again would be easy and convenient.

"I must ask the Commissioner to release my clansmen and tenant farmers and send them back to their homes," Zhang Xun dispensed with pleasantries and spoke straight to the point.

"Oh dear, why didn't anyone remind me? How could I requisition common laborers upon reaching Wujin?" Liu Shiyong slapped his forehead in sudden realization.

Jinling and Wujin shared the same urban area, and much of Zhang Xun's land and clan members were distributed in Wujin. Since Zhang Xun had previously provided relief and assistance to Liu Shiyong, for Liu Shiyong to capture Zhang Xun's clansmen as trackers was indefensible by any standard.

"The Commissioner is busy with military campaigns amidst dust and battle; it is understandable to forget such trivial matters."

"My fault, my fault." Liu Shiyong stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Xun's arm, and went with him to release the prisoners.

Hearing the military order, the government troops immediately began releasing all the civilian laborers they had driven along the canal, especially those seized after entering Changzhou.

"Zhang San!" Goodness gracious, the moment Zhang Xun raised his eyes, he spotted Zhang Xi with his wrists bound by a rope, obediently trailing behind the others.

"Second Brother!" Zhang Xi immediately rejoiced.

Upon questioning, the lad had gone to visit relatives of the main branch in Wujin and was locked up midway. Yet he was clever enough neither to resist nor to shout. He hadn't received a single whip lashing, whereas the other captured laborers had probably suffered numerous blows before being forced to march with the army.

"Forgive me, brother." Seeing that Zhang Xun recognized Zhang Xi and called him Third, Liu Shiyong immediately pulled out a five-liang silver ingot and handed it to Zhang Xi.

It served as an apology for having forgotten that entering Changzhou would result in capturing members of the Zhang family.

Watching hundreds and thousands of local villagers being released, Zhang Xun breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing that Second Brother Zhang had come to secure their freedom, the people swarmed over to kowtow and bow to Zhang Xun. Some whose family members had also rushed forward, originally prepared to spend money to bribe the government troops into releasing their kin, were now filled with gratitude, praising Second Brother as a man of noble virtue and high righteousness.

Just as he was helping up the local townspeople, someone hurried over from behind to report to Liu Shiyong: the massive vessels bestowed by the imperial court, loaded with hundreds of thousands of liang of gold and silver meant to reward the three armies (weighing around twenty tons), had run aground in the river channel because their draft was simply too deep.