Chapter 48: Geng Chongmei

Zezhou, Gaoping County, north of the city.

Nestled between two Han villages lay a fairly broad expanse of high ground, where Geng Chongmei's army had pitched its camp. The fortifications stretched in unbroken succession, with "Liao" banners fluttering overhead, presenting a scene of stern order—clearly, the man commanding this force was no mediocrity.

In the central command tent, an old general of imposing stature sat behind the commander's desk. This man was none other than Geng Chongmei, the Military Governor of Luzhou appointed by Yelu Deguang.

The man clearly did not live up to his name—compared to his name, Geng Chongmei's appearance was hard to compliment. His complexion was purplish-black, and his beard and whiskers were thick and bristly like tadpoles. However, a man of such rugged looks possessed an inner refinement, being highly cultured and literate.

Geng Chongmei was a "Yan man," hailing from Liaoxi. When the great chaos engulfed the realm in the late Tang, his father and grandfather both rose through the ranks of the military. During the Liang and Tang periods, the Geng clan had already become a highly representative class of military-merit bureaucrat-landlords in the Hebei region.

Since the late Tang, the Central Plains had been consumed by endless internal strife. Yelu Abaoji seized the opportunity to rise, unifying the various Khitan tribes. Once his strength grew formidable, he repeatedly invaded southward, plundering Han populations and wealth. Due to their geographical position, the Geng clan was also among those taken captive, entering the Khitan state and submitting to its rule.

Once nomadic peoples rose to power, none could resist the desire to invade the Central Plains. Yelu Abaoji was a great ruler, and naturally he too harbored ambitions to march into the perpetually war-torn Central Plains. But in the process of proclaiming himself emperor, founding his state, and unifying the Khitan tribes, the Liang-Jin struggle for supremacy had erupted to the south, and Li Cunxu had risen from Hedong.

Though Tang Zhuangzong Li Cunxu was a notorious "political idiot," he was an out-and-out military genius, especially in the early period of his reign, when the Hedong Jin army was an extraordinarily formidable force.

After Li Cunxu destroyed Liu Shouguang and seized Youyan, he completely extinguished Yelu Abaoji's ambitions of marching south. Li Cunxu of that era was not to be trifled with!

Yet though marching south was inadvisable, nothing could stop the Khitan's ambition and longing for the Central Plains. As large numbers of Han were captured and brought into the state, Yelu Abaoji continuously absorbed Han culture and talent.

Geng Chongmei, still young at the time, with his literary and martial abilities, his mastery of both Hu and Han cultures, and the Hu blood that had been mixed into his lineage for generations unknown, gradually gained Yelu Abaoji's favor and was appointed as a tongshi—an interpreter-official.

The office of tongshi was ostensibly translation work, but under Khitan rule, it served as the bridge for political and cultural communication between Hu and Han—a position held in great esteem. Every tongshi was a close minister of the Khitan sovereign, having integrated into the Khitan ruling class, with their learning and ability recognized by the ruler.

Those Han tongshi were in effect the administrators of Han affairs within the Khitan state—men like Han Zhigu, and the previously mentioned Zhang Li and Zhao Yanshou, including this Geng Chongmei.

After Yelu Deguang succeeded to the throne, the process of Khitan sinicization accelerated, and Geng Chongmei gained even greater favor, becoming one of Yelu Deguang's confidants. When the Khitan army marched south that year to install Shi Jingtang as the "Son Emperor," Geng Chongmei played no small role in the affair.

This time, when Yelu Deguang marched south to destroy the Jin, Geng Chongmei again accompanied the army in his capacity as tongshi. At the time, Guo Lin, the Prefect of Yizhou, resisted the Khitan forces with his city, holding Yelu Deguang at bay for a considerable time. It was only after Du Chongwei led the Jin army in surrender that Geng Chongmei made his move—he went to Yizhou, lured Guo Lin's soldiers into surrendering, then promptly killed Guo Lin, and Yizhou was taken.

It could be said that Geng Chongmei was a man accomplished in both letters and arms, with formidable strategic abilities in both politics and military affairs. He was also a dyed-in-the-wool traitor to the Han—not an easy man to deal with.

However, at this moment, Geng Chongmei's expression in the tent was far from pleasant. His already dark complexion seemed even more somber, and even his thick, gray-white beard seemed to radiate anxiety.

His worries stemmed from roughly two sources. The first was naturally the situation in Luzhou—he was, after all, the Military Governor appointed by the Liao sovereign, bearing the heavy responsibility of controlling a strategic stronghold. The second was naturally the worry that had arisen in his heart over Liao's rule of the Central Plains.

Geng Chongmei was a man of insight. He had already perceived how precarious the Khitan's position in the Central Plains truly was. He was not as "naive" as Yelu Deguang. The common people of the Central Plains were not so easily bullied—once they erupted, the several hundred thousand Khitan troops would face a situation where "every man in the land is the enemy."

And at present, dire tidings kept pouring in from every prefecture, confirming his suspicions. Here a popular uprising, there a mutiny; one prefecture barely pacified, another rising up again. Especially after Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor, the situation had spiraled completely out of control.

As one of Yelu Deguang's confidants, Geng Chongmei had not failed to offer remonstrance, but Yelu Deguang would not listen. No matter how brilliant a sovereign, when flushed with success and self-satisfaction, he cannot be persuaded. Geng Chongmei's appointment as Military Governor of Luzhou was, to a certain extent, Yelu Deguang's way of "demoting" him.

Leading his troops out of Kaifeng, marching west into Luoyang, then crossing north at Heyang, and continuing until entering Zezhou's borders—the distance was not particularly long, but Geng Chongmei had stubbornly taken nearly ten days, and especially after learning that Hedong had dispatched troops, he slowed his pace even further.

This was the second day of encamping at Gaoping. Luzhou lay only a few dozen li to the north, yet Geng Chongmei chose to halt and advance no further. He felt uneasy at heart—or rather, he did not have much confidence in contending with Hedong for Luzhou, especially when he had only these few thousand "Yan troops."

Spread out on the commander's desk for his study were the maps of Ze and Lu prefectures. His gaze fixed intently on Shangdang city, Geng Chongmei muttered to himself: "I wonder what the situation truly is—where have Liu's troops reached!"

Perhaps his muttering had worked, for suddenly a report came from outside the tent from a yabing guard: "Reporting to the Grand Marshal—the scouts have captured a man coming from the north, claiming to be an envoy from Luzhou, saying he has urgent business to request an audience!"

His dark face brightening, Geng Chongmei perked up, his sharp eyes narrowing slightly as he immediately waved a hand: "Bring him into camp!"

Before long, a very ordinary-looking man was brought into the tent, still wearing military attire, looking utterly exhausted. Geng Chongmei gave the man a brief once-over: "Who are you? What business do you have?"

"This humble one is a personal guard of Zhao Xingqian, the Acting Military Governor of Luzhou. I have been sent south by the Governor's orders to beg the Grand Marshal for aid!" the man answered immediately, gasping for breath.

Narrowing his eyes, Geng Chongmei asked: "What is the situation in Luzhou now?"

"Several thousand troops from Hedong have already marched south. Shangdang's defenses are weak, and there are those with treacherous hearts within. Governor Zhao fears he cannot hold out and sent me to request reinforcements—please, Grand Marshal, dispatch troops north as soon as possible. If you delay, the city may well be lost!" Meeting Geng Chongmei's gaze, the man replied somewhat nervously.

Hearing this, Geng Chongmei's face showed little reaction. His eyes flickered as he asked coldly: "You speak of those with treacherous hearts—who are they?"

"Li Wanchao, Commander of the Surui Army, and Gao Fang, the Administrative Assistant to the Military Governor!" The visitor immediately named the two.

At these words, some of the wariness in Geng Chongmei's eyes dissipated. Before setting out, he had made a point of learning about Luzhou's situation from Zhang Cong'en. If Gao Fang and Li Wanchao were said to be disloyal, that did accord with the facts.

After a moment's thought, Geng Chongmei suddenly asked: "Is Shangdang still in Zhao Xingqian's hands?"

The visitor shook his head.

"It isn't?" Geng Chongmei's voice turned several degrees colder.

Seeing this, the man hastily replied: "This humble one does not know. I rode south at full speed for a hundred li—perhaps by now the Hedong troops have already reached the city walls, perhaps Shangdang has already fallen..."

"Is that so?" Geng Chongmei muttered, pacing back and forth. After pondering for a moment, he abruptly turned to stare at the man: "Where have the Hedong troops reached?"

The man was taken aback, then quickly shook his head: "This humble one does not know!"

"Take him down to rest!" Having observed the visitor for a while longer and seeing no sign of anything amiss, Geng Chongmei finally gave his orders: "Also, send word to the scouts to expand their patrol range, and dispatch men to Shangdang to investigate."

Geng Chongmei did not have to wait long before definite news arrived from the north. His scouts, having barely ridden north past Yangtou Mountain, had run straight into the cavalry unit led by Han Tong. In the ensuing skirmish, they had lost over a dozen riders killed or wounded.