Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 434: Eight Sons Fight for Succession
Yizhou, Chengdu.

Since the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, Shu had lost its ability to govern the world and had been part of the southern regime most of the time. Even if it had occasionally gained independence, it had become a small regime in a remote corner.

However, there are also advantages to being in a remote corner. Because of its remote location, Shu did not suffer much damage.

The development of Shuzhong started early, and agricultural production is sometimes like this. As long as the higher-ups don't mess around, it will naturally prosper.

By the Tang Dynasty, there was already a saying "Yangzhou is the first and Yizhou is the second most developed region in the world".

The current governor of Yizhou in Southern Liang is Xiao Yan’s eighth son, Xiao Ji.

After Xiao Ji took office as the governor of Bashu, as he grew older, he began to have different thoughts.

The main reason was that Xiao Yan was too fertile and lived too long.

Xiao Yan's wife Xi Hui was of noble birth. After they got married in their early years, they had no children. However, Xiao Yan did not dare to take a concubine at that time, so he adopted a son named Xiao Zhengde from his younger brother Xiao Hong as his heir.

After his wife Xi Hui passed away, Xiao Yan finally began to let himself go and soon gave birth to his eldest son, Xiao Tong.

Xiao Tong was the eldest son and inherited Xiao Yan's literary talent. He set up a literary institute in the Eastern Palace and recruited scholars to compile "Wenxuan", which was the first literary anthology in history.

Scholars and officials have always attached great importance to the study of Confucian classics, and compiling history books on Confucian classics has always been a pursuit of achievement for scholars.

"Wenxuan" covers various literary genres, including fu, poetry, sao and other literary types, and includes famous works by famous writers since the pre-Qin period.

Logically speaking, Xiao Tong had a gentle and submissive personality, inherited his father's talent, was the eldest son, and was highly respected by court officials, so it should have been a foregone conclusion that he would take the throne.

But there was one thing: Xiao Tong was in poor health.

Since last year, Crown Prince Xiao Tong has often coughed up blood. Xiao Yan himself is proficient in medicine, and he even invited Taoist master Tao Hongjing from the mountains to diagnose Xiao Tong, but in the end he was unable to cure Xiao Tong's illness.

This also created other possibilities for the succession to the throne of Southern Liang.

The second son, Xiao Zong, was the prince who fled to the Northern Wei and changed his name to Xiao Zan. He was originally loved by Xiao Yan, but he felt that he was the posthumous son of Xiao Baojuan of the Former Qi Dynasty, so he insisted on defecting to the Northern Wei Dynasty to join his "uncle" Xiao Baoyin.

Although Xiao Yan first punished Xiao Zong's son who stayed in Southern Liang and changed his surname to "Bei", he soon forgave Xiao Zong. This time when Chen Qingzhi launched a northern expedition, Xiao Yan asked him to bring Xiao Zong back from Luoyang and forgave his sins.

But no matter how kind and compassionate Xiao Yan was, Xiao Zong had lost the qualification to inherit the throne.

The third son, Xiao Gang, was the half-brother of Crown Prince Xiao Tong. If Xiao Tong really had an accident, Xiao Gang would be the most likely candidate to inherit the position of crown prince. Therefore, when Xiao Yan sent his sons to guard posts outside the capital, he did not actually appoint Xiao Gang to a new post. He kept him in Jiankang in case of an emergency.

However, Xiao Gang also had shortcomings. He had a tense relationship with Xiao Yan's favorite minister Zhu Yi. Zhu Yi was in charge of the court and often suppressed Xiao Gang, which made Xiao Gang very depressed.

The fourth son, Xiao Ji, had little presence, and the fifth son, Xiao Xu, was greedy for money and lustful, and was disliked by Xiao Yan.

The sixth son, Xiao Lun, was intelligent when he was young, knowledgeable and good at writing. He was highly regarded by Xiao Yan among his fellow scholars. Now he serves as the governor of Xuzhou.

The seventh son, Xiao Yi, was both civil and military, and was appointed governor of Jingzhou. However, he suffered an illness when he was young and only had one eye left, which basically ruled out the possibility of him competing for the throne.

Finally, there was the eighth son, Xiao Ji, who was sent to govern Yizhou.

The current situation is that the crown prince is seriously ill and the six princes are competing for the throne.

As Xiao Ji was granted the title of the farthest prince in Yizhou, if he wanted to seize the throne, he naturally had to make some achievements.

This time, Chen Qianzhi's Northern Expedition shocked the whole world and also made the Southern Liang realize the weakness of the Northern Wei.

Local powerful figures in Southern Liang, including Xiao Ji, began to stir.

Xiao Ji launched several provocative activities on the Shu Road, but Yang Kan, the then governor of Liangzhou, was cautious and prudent, and Liangzhou was not a target for military deployment at the time, so Yang Kan only repelled Xiao Ji's attempts several times and did not retaliate.

Xiao Ji's army attacked the city of Nanzhong several times, looted the people's supplies and returned to Shuzhong. Xiao Ji even held a ceremony to present prisoners outside the city of Chengdu.

Xiao Ji's appetite grew bigger and bigger, especially after the chaos in the north intensified. He joined forces with his royal brother, Xiao Yi, the King of Xiangdong who was stationed in Jingzhou, and borrowed an army from him, preparing to leave Shu and attack Liangzhou.

Today, this army entered the city of Chengdu. Xiao Ji personally hosted a banquet to entertain the officers. The leader of the army was Wang Sengbian, the Sima of the palace of Xiao Yi, the King of Xiangdong.

The soldiers of Jingzhou have always been brave and fierce. These 5,000 Jingzhou soldiers were trained personally by Wang Sengbian’s father, Wang Shennian. They are good at fighting in mountains, forests, and on land and water, and are just right for fighting on the rugged Shu Road.

During the banquet, Xiao Ji personally held up the wine glass and toasted Wang Sengbian:

"My brother wrote to me saying that Sima Wang is a famous general who is no less famous than General Chen. I am preparing to march north. I spent a lot of money and jewelry to ask Sima Wang to come from my brother. I wonder if Sima Wang has any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"

Although Wang Sengbian was young, he was arrogant. When he heard Xiao Ji comparing him with Chen Qingzhi, it further aroused his desire to win.

He said:
"General Chen's 7,000 white-robed soldiers can enter Luoyang, and my 5,000 Jingzhou soldiers can also enter Chang'an!"

"The soldiers of Liangzhou are weak, and they are no match for our soldiers of Jingzhou. There is no good strategy to defeat the enemy by force." "How about we capture Su Ze alive and drink with Your Highness?"

Xiao Ji was overjoyed when he heard this. He took out a lot of fine Shu brocade on the spot and rewarded the officers who attended the banquet. He also gave the beautiful women he had collected in Shu to Wang Sengbian. The other party did not refuse and accepted it with a smile.

The next day, Xiao Ji swore an oath to his troops in Chengdu, and he himself served as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition. He took Wang Sengbian's 5,000 Jingzhou soldiers as the vanguard, and recruited 10,000 Yizhou soldiers, plus 50,000 civilian laborers to transport food and fodder. He claimed to have an army of 100,000. He marched from Chengdu to Bazhong, preparing to cross the Shu Road to attack Liangzhou.

Just as Xiao Ji was hosting a banquet in Chengdu, Hou Jing in Nanzhong City had already received information that Southern Liang was about to launch a northern expedition.

Hou Jing, the governor of Liangzhou, was completely different from his predecessor Yang Kan.

Yang Kan was actually also a fierce general. He was able to kill Mo Zhe Dadi with a single arrow, and his martial arts skills were not inferior to Hou Jing's.

However, Yang Kan usually preferred to face his subordinates as a civil official. He would only wear armor when performing military duties, and normally he would dress like a Confucian scholar.

Hou Jing was different. Although he was the governor of Liangzhou and a local official, Hou Jing always dressed like a military general.

Military generals usually had to wear armor, so they would wear close-fitting clothes and tie their cuffs and trouser legs with ropes to facilitate movement.

After Hou Jing received the information, he immediately summoned his generals to discuss the matter.

Upon hearing that Southern Liang was going to take the initiative to attack, Hou Jing's generals were all overjoyed and requested to lead the battle.

But this time Hou Jing was very calm.

He looked at the soldiers and said:
"The enemy is numerous and we are few. Our army has not yet assembled. Moreover, we need to cross the Shu Road to attack Shu, and our food and grass supplies are insufficient. If we are defeated, Liangzhou will be lost."

The enthusiasm of the generals was dampened by Hou Jing's words. Hou Jing said:
"Song Zixian, you will lead two thousand soldiers to defend Nanzhong City."

The generals and soldiers wanted to persuade him again, but Hou Jing was determined to defend the city this time. Hou Jing always kept his word in the army, so the generals could only obey the order and go out.

But Song Zixian refused to give up and came to Hou Jing's mansion again at night.

Hou Jing had already anticipated Song Zixian's visit. A servant brought him to Hou Jing's study with a lantern, and Song Zixian was immediately attracted by the exquisite map on Hou Jing's desk.

"This map was personally given by Duke Su. Wang Sizheng, the inspector of Chongwen Pavilion, was determined to draw a map of counties and prefectures throughout the world, but he has only completed three volumes over the years. This is the Bashu volume."

As a military general, he could not resist the temptation of exquisite maps. Looking at this map with standardized mountains, cities, and rivers, Song Zixian couldn't help but touch it with his hand.

Only then did Song Zixian realize that this map was not drawn but printed using precise woodblock printing.

This printing technique was spreading rapidly in Guanzhong. In addition to being used in the government affairs system of the county government, specialized woodblock craftsmen also began to appear among the people.

When he thought that such a sophisticated map was actually printed, Song Zixian also understood the significance of this map, but his level was not high enough, so he did not get the map.

Also because it was printed, Hou Jing made dense marks on the map and wrote a lot of small, crooked words.

Hou Jing was illiterate. When he was under Su Ze in his early years, Su Ze asked him to read. However, Hou Jing said in the army, "I was valued by the general because of my martial arts. Why should I read to compete with the civil officials?"

But after marrying Li's daughter, Hou Jing started reading. He was indeed smart and learned to read and write very quickly, but his handwriting was not as good as those scholars who had learned calligraphy since childhood.

But in this era, being able to read and write is good enough.

Hou Jing said to Song Zixian:
"Are you here to see me about defending Nanzhong?"

Song Zixian immediately said:
"General, our army's morale is high, how can we avoid fighting? Now everyone in the army is saying..."

"What did you say?"

"They say the general has become more timid after his marriage."

I thought Hou Jing would be angry, but unexpectedly, Hou Jing frowned and then laughed.

Song Zixian didn't understand why Hou Jing laughed. After a while, Hou Jing said:
"Well, since everyone in the army says so, it seems that we have concealed it."

Song Zixian asked doubtfully, "Did you conceal it?"

Hou Jing pointed at the map and said:

"Why don't you look at the map first and see if this route is feasible?"

Song Zixian took the map and saw that there was a route on the map according to Hou Jing's markings.

After reading it, Song Zixian was shocked.

Is this General Hou's plan? Isn't this plan too bold?
(End of this chapter)