Chapter 391 - 385: Tacit Understanding
Xun Xiu and Mi Ce, as the main generals, were kept behind, but their deputies took a part of the men back to Chen County.
Zhao Hanzhang’s orders were not delivered in a centralized manner but issued separately one by one, so they didn’t know Zhao Hanzhang had transferred away so many people.
By the time they found out, it was almost time for the operation.
If the internal situation was like this, the external situation was even more unknown.
Zhao Hanzhang was particularly cunning; when having people bury pots to cook, she instructed that next to each pot, two additional stoves be built. Without much firewood, just place two burning wet wood pieces to create billowing smoke. From a distance, it would appear as if they were cooking.
More than half of their tents were empty. Coupled with what Zhao Hanzhang said when leaving the riverbank, the scout from the Yan State watching them always thought they were crammed into one tent. Seeing no significant decrease in the daily cooking smoke, he suspected nothing.
When the report reached Gou Xi, he frowned at the information on the sheets, which said traces of a large army seemed to have appeared on several roads.
But it seemed as if someone had swept them over.
As long as someone had passed, there would be traces. Zhao Hanzhang knew this too and didn’t intend to remove them completely, but hoped that with fewer traces, less information would be given, and perhaps someone might overlook them?
At first, the scouts and Gou Xi indeed didn’t notice, but looking at the returned intelligence, Gou Xi always felt Zhao Hanzhang was overly cautious, yet not cautious enough.
She was overly cautious because, while guarding against the scouts of Prince East Sea, she was also guarding against his scouts, not allowing his people to get too close, capturing and driving them away several times for this;
Not cautious enough because, clearly employing deceptive strategies against Prince East Sea, she seemed certain he would not discover this place, as their tents remained standing without any change.
Zhao Hanzhang: ...Of course, no change. She had less than fifty thousand men here, and every day, she had to manage tents for one hundred sixty thousand people. How free did she have to be?
Isn’t it better to use that time to do other things?
Such as meeting officials in Xuchang and assessing them, replacing those who should be replaced.
Unlike before when even the appointment of a County Magistrate in Xiping had to be reported to the court for decision, now Zhao Hanzhang made the decision to replace Prefectural Governors and Governors. Not to mention a County Magistrate replacement.
However, she would not casually replace officials either, especially direct managers such as County Magistrates.
The number of people she could employ was still limited, so as long as they did not cross her boundaries, she thought they could be trained and tolerated.
Moreover, it was undeniable that County Magistrates were very adaptable, and would adjust their way of working according to the preferences of their superiors.
Look at County Magistrate Chai for instance; Zhao Hanzhang even let Zhao Kuan bring back a commendation letter this time, praising County Magistrate Chai. In this defense of Yu State, County Magistrate Chai did well in logistics, fulfilling most of the grain and fodder tasks while ensuring no starvation among the people under his governance, which was progress.
Progress should be rewarded.
The weather was turning cold, refugees resulting from the war needed settling, and the wounds of the people needed healing. She had much to do.
Fu Tinghan was also getting busy, organizing the steadily arriving data from various places, "Within Yu State, north of Chen County, only one in ten remain, and the survivors are all hiding in the forests, refusing to come out. Vast swathes of wasteland remain. You have much to do if you want to stabilize Yu State."
Zhao Hanzhang had foreseen it, and wasn’t too surprised, "The urgent matter is to truly stabilize Yu State, both Prince East Sea and Gou Xi’s troops must leave."
Zhao Hanzhang looked up and asked Fan Ying, "No word from General Gou yet?"
"General Gou said he still needed to wait," Fan Ying paused and then said, "But it’s strange. Mr. Ji said recently that the Yan State Army dispatched quite a few people, not just monitoring us, but also probing the area around Ru Nan and Ruyin. Mr. Ji sent people to stop them, but some may have slipped through."
Zhao Hanzhang chuckled softly, saying to Fu Tinghan, "Gou Xi is suspicious of me."
Fu Tinghan: "What do you plan to do?"
Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and said, "Although I moved the men back, it wasn’t due to breaking the alliance. Tomorrow, we’ll sneak back to the riverbank to show my sincerity."
With five thousand men, she was confident in evading the eyes of Prince East Sea.
Fu Tinghan nodded in agreement.
The scouts trained by Ji Yuan were not much inferior to Gou Xi’s.
At least within his sphere of influence, he could grasp information to the fullest extent. So, when Prince East Sea’s scouts handed the letter to the Governor Zhang’s attendant, they were immediately spotted by the scouts watching the riverbank.
Because their actions were too suspicious, the scouts didn’t report, instead directly capturing the attendant and snatching the letter.
To achieve twice the result with half the effort, tasks must be delegated to those proficient in doing them. Hence Zhao Hanzhang directly entrusted this matter to Ji Yuan, "Gou Xi clearly suspects me, and I am unwilling to make an enemy of him. Tomorrow, I will set out with troops to the riverbank, and Mr. Ji, please find a way to convey my intentions: that I will spare no effort to defeat Prince East Sea."
Ji Yuan corrected her, "To assist him in defeating Prince East Sea."
Zhao Hanzhang grinned, "Same thing, same thing. Ultimately, he and I are on the same team."
Ji Yuan did not oppose, and glancing outside, he saw Lu Xiyuan passing by the camp’s entrance, so he said, "You might consider bringing Lu Xiyuan. He is cautious and meticulous, which complements you well."
"M’lady tends to act too boldly; Mr. Fu is excellent in all respects except he listens to your every word, possessing courage akin to yours. You need someone prudent beside you for advice." He continued, "You’ve lured him here, might as well make full use of him."
Zhao Hanzhang: "How is it luring? It’s clearly a mutual desire fulfillment. He is willing to follow me to realize his ambitions, and I need him to understand Ruyin County."
Ji Yuan waved his hand, unwilling to delve into this further, only insisting she bring Lu Xiyuan.
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t object and left with five thousand troops the next day.
They quietly took another route back to the riverbank, far enough from Prince East Sea’s camp on the opposite shore to cross the river unnoticed.
Upon receiving this news, Gou Xi remained silent for a moment before deciding not to delve into the dubious traces. He ordered Gou Chun, "Immediately gather ten thousand troops to wait for crossing at the riverbank as well."
Gou Chun, displeased, asked, "Brother, what about these traces? Is there another army or did Zhao Hanzhang secretly withdraw troops, breaking the alliance?"
Gou Xi, perceptive in human nature, understood Zhao Hanzhang’s mobilization implied, "She did withdraw troops, but the alliance stands true as well."
He continued, "She adhered to the alliance but made a decision most beneficial for Yu State. As long as she is willing to join forces in attacking Prince East Sea’s camp with you, we can overlook this matter."