Chapter 128: That Man Du Chongwei

By the end of June, summer had only a little tail left. The sun still exerted itself to release its heat, and along the way, waves of hot air still rolled past, with bursts of cool breeze—only no longer as fierce and scorching as half a month before.

The great host marched south. When they passed through Anyang in Xiangzhou, Liu Chengyou led the entire army in another public memorial ceremony, mourning the commoners and soldiers who had died. Nearly three months had passed since the massacre at Anyang; the stench of blood had long since dissipated, yet the city walls still bore many traces of war, as if telling of endless sorrow. Without a generation's time, Anyang—indeed, all of Xiangzhou—could not recover as before.

Guarded by a cluster of vigorous elite soldiers, the carriage proceeded slowly southward. Liu Chengyou's carriage was not luxurious—it could even be called crude. Everything was exposed, with few shock-absorbing measures. Though the jolting was not especially violent, it was hard to endure nonetheless.

Liu Chengyou was fine—young, and after getting used to it, he could bear it. But Tao Gu, who was on the carriage lecturing to Liu Chengyou, found it rather difficult. After all, he was middle-aged, and his resistance had declined... One could see his face twisted in discomfort, his body swaying with the carriage's motion, yet he still had to maintain a certain sitting posture to preserve his Confucian scholar's bearing, and even his voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

Liu Chengyou handed him a soft cushion from behind his own back, saying: "Master Tao, no need to be so constrained. Use this cushion to ease yourself."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Seeing this, Tao Gu immediately expressed his gratitude. He no longer stubbornly endured the suffering. Taking the soft cushion, he placed it behind his back and leaned against the carriage wall—only then did he feel much better.

He let out a comfortable sigh, but seeing Liu Chengyou sitting upright across from him, he felt a bit embarrassed and wanted to return the cushion to Liu Chengyou.

Liu Chengyou directly raised his hand to stop him, and even handed him a waterskin to moisten his throat, saying: "Continue your lecture. I'm listening..."

At this moment, in Tao Gu's eyes, Liu Chengyou's image suddenly rose high.

On the long journey south, whenever the road grew tedious, Liu Chengyou liked to summon Tao Gu and Wei Renpu to lecture him. Today it was Tao Gu's turn. Tao Gu was a man of retentive memory and avid learning, broadly versed in the classics and histories, with forays into the various philosophers, Buddhism, and Daoism. Serving as a lecturer, he was more than qualified.

This man was certainly skilled at currying favor and adept at flattery. He had secretly discerned Liu Chengyou's preferences, knowing that he liked to hear histories and biographies—especially recent and contemporary historical figures—so he did not lecture on the classics but turned to historical records instead. Noticing that Liu Chengyou was paying attention to the affairs of Weibo, today he lectured him on Du Chongwei, and indeed, Liu Chengyou showed great interest.

Du Chongwei's first half of life could be described as smooth sailing. His early years may have been somewhat unremarkable, but during the Later Jin dynasty, he reached the pinnacle of officialdom, enjoying the utmost favor and glory. For years he commanded the imperial army; when he went out, he served as marshal, governing Zhenzhou and Xiangzhou, wielding authority over military campaigns.

With Du Chongwei's base and contemptible character, he occupied high position and power, even bearing the burden of the state's survival—only because he was Shi Jingtang's brother-in-law. Ah, people—if you lack a good family background and don't want to struggle and strive, when the opportunity to live off someone else appears, you must seize it...

Surveying Du Chongwei's entire résumé, one finds only two bright spots: first, he induced Fan Yangguang to surrender at Ye City; second, he beheaded An Chongrong at Changshan. Yet in these two matters, how much effort Du Chongwei actually contributed, how much merit he truly earned, is highly questionable. Still, these were Du Chongwei's "credentials for advancement."

As for the rest, everything Du Chongwei did was rotten business. At Zhongdu Bridge, he coerced the entire army into surrendering, leading to the fall of the Later Jin—that need not be recounted in detail. This man also bore the common traits of the martial men of this era: greed and an insatiable appetite for wealth.

When he killed An Chongrong, he seized all of his family's wealth along with the public coffers of Changshan. He neither rewarded the soldiers nor turned it over to the state treasury—he kept it all for himself. As Military Governor of Chengde, he levied heavy taxes on the people, adding surcharges on top of the regular levies. Officials and commoners alike suffered greatly under him, causing all industries to wither and nine out of ten households to be emptied.

Once he had ravaged Zhenzhou to a sufficient degree and saw there was truly no more oil to squeeze, he petitioned to return to court, then was transferred to Weibo, where his misrule continued as before.

Yelu Deguang once summarized that he had three failures that caused him to gain and then lose the Central Plains, the first being the confiscation of the people's money and silk. However, this business of borrowing money and silk from officials and commoners—Du Chongwei had done it regularly when he was still a Later Jin military governor, seizing the people's wealth to fatten his own pockets and fill his own estates. Perhaps the Khitan got their inspiration from Du Chongwei.

When the Later Jin broke off relations with the Khitan and the Khitan repeatedly invaded southward, the border defenses lacked supplies and grain ran short. Hearing that Du Chongwei's residence had accumulated a hundred thousand hu of grain, the court exchanged several tens of thousands of bolts of silk for his grain—they did not treat him unfairly. Yet afterward, he felt his family property had been "confiscated" and was quite indignant.

Charged with defense duties to resist the Khitan invasion, he only knew how to shut himself up behind the city walls, sitting idly by while watching the Hu cavalry plunder the people under his governance, doing nothing. Often, dozens of Hu riders would drive thousands or tens of thousands of Han people past beneath the city walls, and he would look on as if blind, showing not the slightest intention to attack.

In the Battle of Yangcheng, turning defeat into victory was a rare great triumph for the Later Jin against the Khitan. Though Du Chongwei was the supreme commander, the victory relied on generals like Li Shouzhen, Fu Yanqing, and Zhang Yanze, who seized the opportunity to press forward with fierce attacks and repel the enemy through bloody combat. To be fair, though Li Shouzhen was hardly any better than Du Chongwei, at least in the Battle of Yangcheng, Li Shouzhen showed some mettle. That Zhang Yanze was the same—though he later became a collaborator, even leading the Khitan army to take Kaifeng.

As for Du Chongwei, he was useless from start to finish. After the victory at the Battle of Yangcheng, there had been an opportunity to expand on the success—the generals wanted to press the pursuit, but Du Chongwei ordered them to stop and withdrew the troops midway. In his view, surviving under the edge of the Khitan's blades was already a rare blessing; how would he dare to have excessive ambitions...

Tao Gu's narration was fairly detailed. He lectured for over half an hour, and his mouth grew dry. He picked up the waterskin again and took two deep gulps, all the while watching Liu Chengyou's expression.

As for Liu Chengyou's expression—there was no expression at all.

After hearing Tao Gu's account, the image of Du Chongwei in Liu Chengyou's mind suddenly became "full-bodied."

"Truly as Xue Huairang said—compared to Du Chongwei, the crimes he committed are 'a small witch before a great one'..."

After this remark, Liu Chengyou asked Tao Gu: "As the saying goes, 'public opinion can melt metal, accumulated slander can dissolve bone.' The poem says, 'words of men are fearsome.' With Du Chongwei behaving this way, subjected to endless resentment and curses, does he not have the slightest sense of shame or awe?"

Setting down the waterskin, Tao Gu stroked his beard and said with a light laugh: "Your Highness, let me tell you two more little stories..."

"When Du Chongwei was in Zhenzhou, his greed was so fierce that many of the people fled. One day, passing through the market, he said to his attendants: 'People say I have driven away all the commoners—how is it there are so many people in the market!'"

"That question does have some logic to it! How so?" Liu Chengyou said, his tone dripping with sarcasm and contempt.

"The other story I heard while I was still in Daliang. After surrendering with his entire army and entering the Eastern Capital, whenever Du Chongwei went out on the main roads, the city folk would curse him. Yet Du Chongwei merely lowered his head and passed by, and afterward his face returned to normal, perfectly composed..."

"The world is full of strange people and strange affairs. This Du Chongwei certainly counts as one wonder—with a face of extraordinary thickness!" Liu Chengyou said: "Shi Chonggui relied on such a man as a pillar of the state, entrusted him with elite troops to protect the realm. How could the state not perish!"

"Your Highness speaks truly!" Tao Gu immediately offered a flattering remark: "Du Chongwei's greed, baseness, and cowardice have reached the extreme, yet the young emperor still entrusted him with the most intimate responsibilities and the weight of military and state affairs—truly benighted. The fall of the Jin was not heaven's will, but human doing—they brought it upon themselves."

Nodding, Liu Chengyou asked again: "You said earlier that Feng Dao and Li Song jointly recommended Du Chongwei as commander. This man is so base—how is it that these two gentlemen vigorously recommended his ability? That is quite intriguing."

Hearing the question, Tao Gu's eyes rolled, and he opened his mouth, but then seemed to change his words midway, saying: "The two chancellors have their own considerations, which this humble official cannot fathom. Perhaps they had other calculations?"

"When I reach Kaifeng, I shall ask the two gentlemen about this matter." Liu Chengyou said somewhat casually.

Feng Dao, Li Song, and the other Jin officials whom Liu Chengyou had snatched back from the Khitan's hands had already gone south to the Eastern Capital with Liu Chengxun earlier, wishing to have an audience with the new emperor of the Great Han.

"Having heard your lecture, I have benefited greatly. You have worked hard, Master—go and rest now." Seeing that the sun had already tilted westward, Liu Chengyou instructed Tao Gu.

"This humble official takes his leave." Tao Gu responded at the appropriate moment.

The carriage stopped. Liu Chengyou yawned, lay down on his side, and watched Tao Gu as he bowed and descended from the carriage. In his mind, however, he recalled the report he had received that day—when Xue Huairang's household was being searched, this Tao Gu's hands had been somewhat unclean. Regarding this, Liu Chengyou knew but did not ask, simply keeping it in mind.

Propping his head on his hand, Liu Chengyou continued thinking about this man Du Chongwei. Sometimes, certain things are truly hard to understand—how could a man of such notorious reputation and utter lack of talent as Du Chongwei rise to the rank of Chancellor-Governor, commanding the three armies? But on closer thought, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible. After all, he was a relative of the imperial family. Perhaps the Jin court was picking the tallest among the dwarfs?

While inspecting at Zhending, Liu Chengyou had also heard a rumor. It was said that when the Jin emperor was taken north as a captive, the journey was bleak throughout, and when passing Zhongdu Bridge, with tearful eyes, he had cursed Du Chongwei loudly. There was some irony in that.

Thinking of it now, a man like Du Chongwei—even if he held Weibo with tens of thousands of troops, even a million—what was there to fear? He was nothing but dry bones in a grave.

His elbow knocked against something, hurting a bit, so he simply put his arm down. Drowsiness crept over him. He gave a brief instruction to Li Chongju, his guard, and went to sleep.

When Liu Chengyou woke, the sky had already darkened. The army was still marching south, but at a particularly slow pace. All he could hear was the sound of wheels and footsteps, accompanied by the chirping of insects from the wilds on one side. Lifting the carriage curtain, Liu Chengyou looked out and saw a hazy twilight all around. He asked: "Where are we?"

Hearing his voice, Li Chongju quickly spurred his horse forward and reported: "Your Highness, we have reached Liyang. Commander Xiang has already gone ahead to the ferry crossing to set up the camp, awaiting the main force's arrival."

"Mm!" Liu Chengyou acknowledged. With such capable subordinates, one could indeed save oneself a great deal of worry.

Night fell, and the weather cooled considerably. A gentle breeze blew, very comfortable. Two candle lamps were lit inside the carriage, their flames flickering, casting light upon Liu Chengyou's figure as he read by lamplight.

By the time they reached the Liyang camp, the sky was completely dark. However, the matters of lodging and camping had already been arranged very properly by Guo Rong and Xiang Xun—one could simply "move in with one's bags." As he descended from the carriage, he saw the camp in orderly bustle, with each unit entering the camp in an orderly fashion under Xiang Xun's arrangements.

Dinner was already prepared. Besides the army's own cooks, the County Magistrate of Liyang had also conscripted some cooks and women to help. Liu Chengyou briefly received the magistrate of Liyang, and learned from him that the supply fleet under Ma Quanyi and Sun Li had already come south via the Yongji Canal, entered the Yellow River, and headed for Kaifeng—more than three days ago now. They had probably already reached their destination.

Calculating the time, they weren't much faster than Liu Chengyou, since they needed to take a roundabout route. Water transport in the north was not as developed as in the south; the canals had long gone without dredging, and they also had to guard against unexpected incidents on the way—it was hard for speed to be high. Still, it saved a great deal of manpower overall.

Hearing that they had already passed Liyang, Liu Chengyou also breathed a sigh of relief. Once past this point, they had reached the area under the central authority's effective control—it was basically impossible for any more "incidents" to occur.

After a simple meal, Liu Chengyou called for Guo Rong and Wei Renpu, asking the two to accompany him to look at the Liyang ferry.

The Liyang ferry was right at their feet. This important canal hub on the banks of the great river was of considerable scale, though somewhat desolate. But with the Central Plains now settled, it had gained some vitality. Some civilian boats were moored by the dock, and on shore there were even inns and lodgings. There were people, to be sure—but with the great army arriving, they were all keeping a low profile and behaving themselves.

Walking on the mudflats, the distant reaches of the canal were pitch black, with only the nearby water reflecting the lamps on the shore. The light was faint, but the sound of flowing water was quite clear.

"Your Highness, ten li southwest of the ferry is where the great river divides." Wei Renpu walked beside him, introducing: "When the Liao sovereign returned north back then, it was here that he crossed northward. The Hu barbarians are unaccustomed to boats and ships—they forced the crossing and drowned quite a few people..."

"I've heard something of that." Liu Chengyou said.

Guo Rong, standing nearby, also pointed in a direction and said: "From here to the northeast, it leads directly to the main channel of the Yongji Canal, which goes north into the Hai River. Following the waterway, the farthest north one can reach is Zhuozhou. Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, whenever the state sent troops northward, it was along this route that money, grain, and military equipment were transported."

"It's just that over all these years, wars have erupted frequently and turmoil has been unending, while the state has not prospered and the treasury has been empty. With no manpower or resources for dredging, the canals have silted up, grain transport has been impeded, and shipping capacity has greatly diminished." Wei Renpu added.

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou said: "You two are reminding me that in the future, I should renovate the canals."

Wei Renpu said with a light smile: "But there is no need to rush. Only when the state is stabilized, the people's livelihoods restored, and the treasury full, can we act according to the times and our strength."

"Naturally. Harnessing the river is a costly undertaking." Liu Chengyou nodded.

He looked up at Liyang Ferry under the night sky, somewhat lost in thought. After a brief silence, Liu Chengyou sighed: "I wonder when we will see a hundred boats contending and a thousand sails racing from this very spot."

"As long as the state is at peace, it will surely come..." Guo Rong said.

The conditions did not seem difficult, but to actually accomplish them—how easy could it be?

"South of the Yellow River, that's Huazhou, isn't it?" Gazing southward, Liu Chengyou suddenly asked.

Wei Renpu replied: "Yes. Together with Weizhou, it belongs to the Yicheng Army's jurisdiction, guarding the Eastern Capital."

"According to the map, from here, the Eastern Capital is not far away!"

"A distance of just over two hundred li. Without delays, after crossing the river, one can reach it in two days. By water route, even faster!" Wei Renpu explained.

Upon hearing this, Liu Chengyou pondered for a moment, then gave his orders: "Cross the river early tomorrow morning, by land. Send someone across to notify Huazhou, and have the opposite bank prepare to receive us!"

"Yes!"