Chapter 77: The Camp in Turmoil (Part 1)

The New Year in the military camp was dull and monotonous. No merchant would come near Guwei to sell fireworks, and even bamboo poles were rare, leaving no festive atmosphere at all. The only lively sound was the gambling calls outside the post station.

On the afternoon of New Year's Day, Liu Changzuo led a group of subordinate officers to pay respects, inviting Wang Shao and Han Gang's party to a banquet, which then dispersed.

The food and drink provided in Guwei Fort were truly not worth mentioning. The salt used was of poor quality, tasting bitter in the mouth. The well salt commonly used here was far inferior to the salt from the salt pools of Jiezhou and Qingbai, which were of the best quality in the entire Song Dynasty.

The salty and bitter dishes were unbearable for Han Gang, who was accustomed to a light diet. Wang Shao and his son only tasted a little, and Zhao Long and the bodyguards also complained bitterly. Wang Shunmin kept grumbling, "Just because this place produces salt, they add a pound to every dish, trying to turn us into salted meat?" Only Li Xin ate everything silently without a word.

Liu Changzuo treated his guests with strict formality, but his hospitality was lukewarm. Wang Shao seemed not to mind, but Han Gang, who had come to understand Wang Shao's character, knew that his patron must have already made a mental note.

Han Gang was also not pleased. He knew that Liu Changzuo was wary of Xiang Bao and was thinking of ways to make Liu Changzuo turn against Xiang Bao and have to seek his support.

However, Han Gang was still highly respected by the lower-ranking soldiers in Guwei Fort. Many of them bowed and greeted him. The soldiers who served Han Gang's daily needs were also very attentive, asking after his well-being.

Han Gang's actions in Gangu City had almost spread throughout the Qin-Feng region. Tens of thousands of soldiers in Qin Prefecture knew that a disciple of Sun Simiao, the Immortal, was soon to take charge of medical affairs in the Qin-Feng region. Although Han Gang would never publicly admit to the misunderstanding about being a disciple of Sun Simiao and instead tried to clarify it, the speed and extent of the rumor's spread were exactly as he had hoped.

Eating military rations and guarding the border, no one could confidently say they would never be injured. Liu Changzuo was wary of his superior, Xiang Bao, but ordinary soldiers didn't care about that. A high-ranking commander wouldn't even glance at them, so why should they offend someone who might save their lives in the future?

The fire pot in Han Gang's room never went out, even in the middle of the night. After he got up and exercised, someone immediately brought a large bucket of hot water for him to bathe and change clothes. His mount was brushed to a shine and fed the best soybean meal. After mentioning the bitter salt, the food improved, apparently because they used clean water to rinse the coarse salt and then boiled it a second time to make refined salt.

This treatment even benefited Wang Shao. Wang Hou, who was envious, privately said to Han Gang with a smile, "Yukun, you can probably walk around Qin-Feng with your head held high in the future; no one will dare to offend you."

Han Gang smiled but did not respond. He couldn't easily reply to such a statement.

In terms of hospitality, Liu Changzuo's attitude towards Wang Shao and Han Gang was one of the worst, while the lower-ranking officers in Guwei Fort showed a much better attitude, which made Han Gang want to pull Liu Changzuo over and teach him a lesson. The attitude of the nearby tribal groups towards Liu Changzuo was slightly inferior to the latter but far superior to the former.

The most pro-Song tribe, the Nazhilingzhan, sent dozens of sheep as New Year's gifts early in the year and specially selected a fine horse for Liu Changzuo—a tall, majestic chestnut horse from the Hexi region. On the second day of the first month, the tribal chiefs came to pay respects, led by their chieftain, showing the utmost respect in Guwei.

The Nazhilingzhan tribe was once the largest Tibetan tribe in Guwei, owning nine valleys and tens of thousands of people. But now their power has greatly diminished, and they only retain three of those valleys, thanks to their early allegiance to the Song Dynasty twenty years ago.

The tribe that has replaced them as the strongest in Guwei is represented by the group of tribesmen who just entered the official hall.

Wang Hou and Han Gang, having nothing to do, stood outside the hall, watching the tribesmen file in. Han Gang, who had pulled Wang Hou along, hoped to learn more about the tribes in Guwei. After just an hour outside the hall, he had a more direct understanding of the northwestern tribes and gained first-hand information, which was more useful than sitting in the Qin Prefecture hall and poring over old documents.

Wang Shao was in the hall. As the supervisor of the Qin-Feng tribal affairs, since he was in the fort and the tribes had come, Liu Changzuo, even if unwilling, had to let Wang Shao sit in his official hall.

"These are people from the Qingtang tribe..." Wang Hou whispered in Han Gang's ear. Over the years, Wang Hou had traveled many places in the Shaanxi border region with Wang Shao and had a basic understanding of the major tribes. The flags and attire of different tribes had subtle differences that Han Gang couldn't discern, but Wang Shao and Wang Hou could identify them at a glance.

The Qingtang tribe in Guwei had no connection with the Qingtang capital of the Tibetan king Nanzhao and Dongzhan, it was just a coincidence that they shared the same name. Speaking of names, Han Gang had visited Guwei in his previous life, but then it was called Gansu Longxi, and he had even visited the nearby Shouyang Mountain, where the legendary Bo Yi and Shu Qi starved to death rather than eat Zhou grain.

But not only in Longxi County, but also in many places in Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi, there were Shouyang Mountains, all claiming to be the final retreat of Bo Yi and Shu Qi. Now, on his "return visit," Han Gang hadn't heard of any Shouyang Mountain in Guwei, so it was probably a later invention.

The Qingtang tribe was the most populous, largest, and wealthiest tribe near Guwei. Together with Guwei Fort, they were known as Qingwei. The salt wells they owned were said to bring in the profit of eight horses every day, a staggering amount.

In the Northern Song, horses were expensive, with even the cheapest draft horse costing ten guan, and warhorses starting at thirty guan and going up to a hundred. Even at the lowest price, eight horses would be worth one hundred guan, and a year's income would be over thirty-five thousand guan!

When Wang Hou mentioned the Qingtang salt wells, he sighed, saying that if this thirty-five thousand guan annual income belonged to Guwei Fort, the emperor would have demanded the establishment of a military force without needing to be asked by his subordinates.

"The Qingtang tribe hasn't submitted, right? Why are they here? Does Yu Longke plan to seek an official position from the court?" Han Gang was puzzled. In recent days, he had gathered information about the tribes, and although not as knowledgeable as Wang Hou, he knew who the chieftain of the Qingtang tribe was.

The Qingtang tribe had not submitted to the Song Dynasty, had not accepted court positions, and had not offered their land. According to the Song classification of tribes, they were "raw households," while the Nazhilingzhan tribe, which had submitted to the Song, were "cooked households." A "raw" tribe coming to pay respects, was it a routine or an exception?

"Yu Longke, who can call himself a king in his own domain, of course, wouldn't want to be a subject of the Song Dynasty. But this doesn't mean the Qingtang tribe doesn't want to be on good terms with the court. It's better to establish good relations now to avoid future troubles. Many tribes do this. Besides, the Qingtang tribe produces nothing but salt and horses, and they rely on the trade caravans coming to Guwei..."

"The Qingtang tribe is said to have over twelve thousand people, right?" Wang Shunmin, who always viewed the tribes as bandits, always thought the worst of them, "Yu Longke might want to be like Li Yuanhao, bowing in front and stabbing in the back, taking over Guwei in one fell swoop!"

"Twelve thousand people?" Wang Hou sneered, "Indeed, there are! Counting the sheep, it's still a bit short, add the dogs, and it's a bit more. Add the horses, and it might reach thirteen thousand!"

Han Gang also shook his head and laughed. Such rumors were not to be believed. Qin Prefecture was a major stronghold in the northwest, with only about ten thousand Han people. How could a tribe have a population equivalent to Qin Prefecture? "Twelve thousand people is a joke. Guwei is so small, how many tents can it hold?

All the tribes combined might indeed have twelve thousand. A single Qingtang tribe might have three thousand people, enough to form two or three fully equipped thousand-man units. Dongzhan or Muzheng's direct tribes probably have around ten thousand!"

"But with a call from Dongzhan and Muzheng, they can easily gather three to five thousand elite Tibetan troops. Even Yu Longke could gather around ten thousand in Guwei, right?"

"The number of troops is not the key," Han Gang said. If they couldn't defeat the Qingtang tribe to expand into the Hehuang region, they shouldn't even think about the Mu family in Hezhou or Dongzhan in Qinghai, "The Qingtang tribe stands in the way. To advance into Hehuang, we must pass through them. We either destroy them or win them over. We cannot allow them to be indecisive!"

"But Mu Zheng, Dongzhan, and the Western bandits have all sent envoys to Yu Longke's camp." Han Gang's knowledge of geography was already admired by Wang Hou. The strategic importance of the Qingtang tribe was clear to Wang Hou even without Han Gang's explanation. Even if he didn't understand geography well, anyone could see the importance of the Qingtang tribe from the efforts of Mu Zheng, Dongzhan, and the Western bandits to win over Yu Longke, "A fence-sitter can fall on either side. Yu Longke runs around in all directions. Mu Zheng, Dongzhan, the Western bandits, and the court, he worships at every temple, offending no one..."

Wang Hou was disdainfully speaking about the Qingtang tribe's four-way diplomacy when a shadow appeared at the door of the official hall. The tall and broad Zhao Long walked out of the hall. Zhao Long's imposing figure and appearance were more intimidating than Wang Shunmin and Li Xin, so he was brought by Wang Shao to meet the tribal envoys with Liu Changzuo. Wang Shunmin and Li Xin could only stand outside the tent, guarding Han Gang and Wang Hou.

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