Chapter 286: Life and Death Are Decreed by Heaven

Tao Qian, after all, set off for his post with heroic fervor. Born in the remote frontier region of Danyang, he had been fond of martial pursuits since childhood, and was utterly delighted by an assignment like the western campaign against Liangzhou… Not to mention, after the Yellow Turban rebellion was quelled, countless meritorious officials had been promoted. Not only did the three main meritorious commanders each receive a general’s seal, but their respective subordinates also all completed leaps forward in their official careers.

And given Tao Qian’s seniority, it was thought that as long as he achieved even minor merit on this campaign, he would certainly be granted a large commandery upon his return; and if he could achieve great merit, he might well secure both a marquisate and a commandery at once.

However, Tao Gongzu, brimming with confidence, traveled south all the way, only to hear news upon reaching Luoyang at the end of the sixth month that the court was bestowing marquisates on a grand scale… But the news was not about him — it was for those twelve Regular Palace Attendants.

Those who already had marquisates had their households increased, and those without were all granted one, so that the twelve Regular Palace Attendants, not one left out, were now called the Twelve Marquises!

What was the reason? The answer was merit in suppressing the Yellow Turbans last year… By Han custom, no marquisate could be granted without military merit.

Of course, popular rumor in Luoyang said that the twelve Regular Palace Attendants had built a nude bathing pavilion so the Son of Heaven could escape the heat in comfort, and the Son of Heaven rewarded them for this service. And according to even more back-alley gossip, on the first day the Son of Heaven entered to escape the heat, he openly remarked to those around him:

“If one could live like this for ten thousand years, it would truly rival the immortals!”

However, this news was murky, and the rear palace was not a place everyone could enter — perhaps it was only a rumor… More evidence suggested that it was because the earlier schemes of Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, and others to amass wealth for the Son of Heaven had achieved some effect. Vast amounts of money and goods flowed from the provinces and commanderies into Luoyang, ultimately concentrating in the Western Garden, which gave the Son of Heaven extraordinary satisfaction.

One clear proof was that the Son of Heaven, on his own initiative, ordered the Grand Minister of Agriculture to move the coin and silk from the official treasuries under his jurisdiction into the Western Garden hall, and even named it the Myriad Gold Hall… Although it was unclear what meaning this waste of manpower actually held, it was said that the Son of Heaven found it very pleasing to the eye and felt entirely satisfied.

The court was waging war, and the Son of Heaven was amassing wealth… Let us assume, for the moment, that he was amassing wealth for the state. But what exactly was the meaning of granting marquisates to twelve eunuchs in the name of suppressing the Yellow Turbans?! Tao Gongzu was utterly unconvinced.

One must understand that after the Yellow Turbans were suppressed, throughout the entire realm, only a few commanders who held imperial tallies received rewards in noble rank. Further down, men like Guo Dian only received posthumous marquisates after they died… And now, what exactly had twelve eunuchs done to be granted marquisates for military merit?! If marquisates were truly to be granted, what about those commandants and capital commandants, Fu Xie serving as a Court Consultant at court, Cao Cao who had returned home, or the several grand administrators who had previously died for the state — no matter how you counted, it could never be the turn of these twelve eunuchs, could it?

So, it was not only Tao Qian who was unconvinced; I fear every military man under heaven was unconvinced!

In fact, some people had already linked this action of the Son of Heaven with the earlier matter of increasing taxes, saying that the tax increase was the Son of Heaven breaking faith with the people, and this granting of marquisates was the Son of Heaven breaking faith with the gentry.

However, military affairs at the front were urgent. Tao Qian had no time to curse the eunuchs for ruining the state with his former colleagues. He hastily took up the seal and ribbon of his Yangwu Commandant post, led the troops assigned to him, and hurried west of Chang’an to rendezvous with Huangfu Song.

Yet, in the middle of the seventh month, after Tao Gongzu had labored through a bitter journey leading his troops to Fufeng, he was met head-on with another blow — it turned out that his patron for this campaign, the Left General of Chariots and Cavalry Huangfu Song, had been dismissed because of a locust plague!

Not only was he dismissed, but his seal and ribbon as Left General of Chariots and Cavalry were confiscated, and his noble rank was reduced — from a county marquis back to a township marquis, and from eight Battalion Commander down to two thousand. Huangfu Song was sent home to retire with nothing but his noble rank… Seeing this scene, one could only say that Gongsun Xun and Zhu Jun truly had foresight. No matter what, neither of those two had their marquisates reduced, and Gongsun Xun in particular had avoided the scalding post of General of Chariots and Cavalry from the very start, and now could still hang onto a general’s seal while farming at home.

Of course, no matter how much was said, whether it was, as army rumor had it, that the Son of Heaven no longer wished to use Huangfu Song as Regional Commander lest his authority grow too great, or whether it was, as Luoyang legend had it, that Huangfu Song’s earlier impeachment of Zhao Zhong’s residence for exceeding regulations had provoked retaliation… The only certainty was that the former Yellow Turban meritorious officials, whether actively or passively, by coincidence or by design, had now all been shelved by the court. And at the same time, the power of the eunuch faction surged once more, completely dominating the court situation!

But no matter what, the western campaign was imminent. Tao Gongzu, long since filled with indignation at the state of affairs, waited in vain at Chang’an for a month, and finally did wait for the court’s main army.

The Minister of Works Zhang Wen was given the combined seal of General of Chariots and Cavalry — merged into one after Huangfu Song’s dismissal and Zhu Jun’s mourning leave — as overall commander of the army. The Bearer of the Gilded Mace Yuan Pang served as deputy commander. The General of the Household Dong Zhuo was promoted to General Who Defeats the Caitiffs. The Inspector of Yuzhou, Zhou Shen, was appointed General Who Sweeps Away the Caitiffs. Orders were also given for Fufeng and Hedong along the route, as well as the inspectors and two-thousand-bushel officials of the various commanderies and kingdoms in Liangzhou, to coordinate and dispatch supplies… Of course, the Yangwu Commandant Tao Qian, as a former subordinate of Huangfu Song, was also incorporated into the force. At the same time, Zhao Qi, a famous scholar from Guanxi who had been proscribed for over a decade, was also appointed as Chief Clerk in the office of the General of Chariots and Cavalry.

Finally, including elite troops from various commanderies and kingdoms such as Sun Jian stationed in Nanyang, the Five Colonels of the Northern Army — from which former Yellow Turban meritorious officials had been deliberately excluded — as well as cavalry from Xiliang and Sanhe, the entire army, vast and mighty, numbering over a hundred thousand, all marched out west of the passes.

In the latter part of the eighth month, the great army finished assembling. The Regional Commander Zhang Wen established his base camp at Meiyang in Fufeng and began the campaign to pacify the rebellion in Xiliang.

The place called Meiyang was located at a three-way junction. Heading west led to Hanyang Commandery in Liangzhou; heading north led to Anding Commandery in Liangzhou; and behind it lay the Wei River plain, which was the heartland of Guanzhong… So the location was certainly not wrongly chosen.

However, Han Sui and Bian Zhang, who had gradually gained command authority over the rebel forces through a series of internal political struggles, were not the least bit intimidated by the court’s hundred-thousand-strong army. They actually carried out a massive mobilization, allied with the Xianbei, Qiang, and various Hu tribes, and also scraped together a force of a hundred thousand. Then they took the initiative to advance their great army along the western road, and the two sides confronted and clashed at Meiyang.

Moreover, in repeated engagements, it was always the court forces that were defeated.

Here, a word more: Sun Wentai, who had always been unstoppable, suffered a great loss this time. Not long after the fighting began, he led over a thousand cavalry north of Meiyang and encountered the main rebel force. He was utterly routed, his entire force wiped out. This fierce tiger himself barely escaped death, and after being rescued at the risk of their lives by his subordinates, he further discovered that his official seal had been lost. Fortunately, the war situation was so perilous that no one sought to punish him; they merely had him assist in military planning and forbade him from independently leading troops.

Of course, the court’s foundation was still solid after all. Zhang Wen’s side not only had soldiers more elite than the opposing motley Hu tribes, but the quality and quantity of his generals also far surpassed those of Han Sui and his ilk on the opposing side. As for logistics, with their backs to the Wei River, their supply lines were far stronger than those of the Hu tribes… Thus, after a month of fighting, seeing that the various Hu tribes among the rebels were gradually scattering due to supply problems and heading off to plunder commanderies like Zuopingyi and Hedong, and that the main rebel force facing them was dwindling, Zhang Wen finally adopted a suggestion and divided his forces for a pincer movement.

One route, under Zhao Qi, led troops out along the northern road toward Anding, attempting to contact the Han-loyal forces still stubbornly defending the great cities in Liangzhou, while sweeping away the Hu tribes raiding Hedong and Zuopingyi along the way. The other route, under Dong Zhuo, led troops along the southern bank of the Wei River in Youfufeng, attempting to circle around and strike the rebel flank.

It must be said, the northern route was long and distant, and Zhao Qi himself was nearly eighty, so it was difficult to achieve obvious results quickly. But Dong Zhongying was a veteran of a hundred battles, and moreover, this time he was fighting in the Guanxi region he knew well, and cooperating effectively with the local Grand Administrator of Fufeng, Bao Hong. Thus, this route achieved success almost in a single battle!

As soon as the two sides engaged, Dong Zhuo, commanding independently, drove the rebels Han Sui, Bian Zhang, and others back in steady retreat! It was said that Li Jue and Guo Si were particularly outstanding, and Dong Zhuo’s Chief Clerk Liu Ai even openly used the completely routed Sun Jian as a comparison before the army — praising two while stepping on one… causing Sun Jian to become a laughingstock in the army for a time.

The tide of battle turned. Next, Zhang Wen led the main army himself in the rear, with Dong Zhuo in the vanguard, following the western road the rebels had previously advanced along, winning battle after battle, driving the enemy like sheep. Within a month, they had actually chased the rebels Han Sui, Bian Zhang, and the others all the way back into Liangzhou.

But the Han army’s good fortune was not yet over. Just as Han Sui and Bian Zhang were stabilizing their lines on the border between Liangzhou and Sili, preparing to continue the standoff, one night, a miraculous event suddenly occurred at the rebel camp.

“Lord Bian.” Outside the main army tent, Li Wenhou was practically drained of color. “What is this?!”

“Lord Bian, Lord Han, you two must make a decision on this matter!” Beigong Boyu, who came from the Huangzhong Volunteer Corps, was also utterly disoriented.

“Wenyue, this… what can be said about this?” Bian Zhang’s hands trembled as he gazed at the sky in shock, yet he too was helpless.

Han Sui’s face was pale, speechless. Even Cheng Gongying, who was always known for his composure and steadiness by his side, was so panicked that he did not know what to do.

The night was deep, yet not a single person in the entire rebel army could sleep. They all poured out of camp, gazing at the sky, speechless.

It turned out that in the night sky of the eleventh month, countless meteors streaked like rain. And such a beautiful sight, in the eyes of Han Sui, Bian Zhang, and the tens of thousands of Liangzhou rebels, was a celestial phenomenon terrifying to the extreme… They did not fear blades, nor did they care for life or death, but they feared heavenly punishment!

“I…”

Just as Han Sui was about to say a few words of encouragement, suddenly, a particularly brilliant starlight streaked across the sky and vanished in an instant. This flash of light not only startled the mules and horses in the camp, setting off waves of neighing, but also threw the rebels into complete disarray. It also made the classically educated and thus deeply superstitious Han Sui and Bian Zhang instinctively recall the old story of Han Shizu, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu.

“Let us go!” Bian Zhang truly could not hold on any longer. “Let us go! This is an omen that the Han house still holds the Mandate of Heaven. If we insist on staying to fight, I fear we will end up like Wang Mang’s army at the Battle of Kunyang, utterly destroyed, not a single piece of armor left!”

“But, but where can we go?” Han Sui, looking at the chaotic camp, also found his mind a rare blank. “Isn’t Liangzhou right behind us?”

“Head for Jincheng Commandery,” Beigong Boyu, upon hearing the words “not a single piece of armor left,” immediately gritted his teeth and said. “The terrain there is naturally perilous, and besides, we started our uprising from Jincheng Commandery. The entire commandery there is our people. Even if it is heavenly punishment, it only means Heaven does not wish us to attack Chang’an, right? What harm is there in returning home?”

“What about the Qiang people we finally gathered with such difficulty?” Han Sui was still somewhat reluctant after all. Just a month ago, they had a hundred thousand troops, winning repeatedly against the Han army. He, Han Wenyue, had even dreamed of entering the court to execute the eunuchs, receiving a seal as Grand General, and having men like Huangfu Song and Gongsun Xun bow their heads before him.

“Let them each return to their own tribes,” Cheng Gongying helplessly advised. “Jincheng is barren. Even if we fight defensively within the commandery, we can at most sustain twenty thousand troops.”

Han Sui was helpless, and so were the others… From the start of the rebellion until now, even if there had been some flavor of coercion and being swept along at the very beginning, by this time their personal ambitions had long since been nurtured by the tens of thousands of troops under their command. Who among them was not now indulging in certain grand dreams of power? But the more this was so, the more they gazed at the sky where meteors still fell unceasingly, the more terrified and helpless they became.

In the final analysis, it was not merely the limitations of the era, nor merely ignorance. More importantly, this group of Liangzhou men, like the vast majority of people in this world, still felt that the Great Han was the side that held the Mandate of Heaven, while they themselves were rebels, bandits! Religious fanatics like Zhang Jiao were still a minority.

In fact, on the other side, the Han army vanguard, blocked by the rebels using their geographical advantage in the Wu Yue Mountains on the border of Liangzhou and Sili, saw the sky full of meteors and their morale soared, all believing it was a sign of the Han house’s Mandate of Heaven.

Thus, the vanguard commander, General Who Defeats the Caitiffs Dong Zhuo, made an immediate decision and promptly summoned his deputy, the Grand Administrator of Fufeng, Bao Hong.

The two hit it off immediately and decided to send out troops that very night.

In this battle, the Han army’s morale was like a rainbow, while the rebels were already set on fleeing — it could be said they had absolutely no will to fight. Therefore, as soon as the two sides engaged, the rebels collapsed and fled, and the battle quickly turned into a pursuit… Not to mention that Dong Zhuo and Bao Hong took several thousand heads on the spot; more importantly, the rebels withdrew cleanly and decisively. The Qiang turned around and each returned to their own tribes, leaving the main rebel force of just over twenty thousand to flee in panic back to Jincheng, where they defended Yuzhong City, the gateway to Jincheng Commandery, to the death. Correspondingly, Hanyang Commandery, the easternmost and most central region of Liangzhou, was instantly and completely recovered. Zhang Wen also personally led the main army into Hanyang and encamped at Ji City, the capital of Hanyang Commandery.

Up to this point, it could be said that the Han army’s campaign to suppress the rebellion was already eighty percent successful, while the Liangzhou rebels had correspondingly fallen into a desperate situation.

At this time, the Minister of Works and concurrent General of Chariots and Cavalry Zhang Wen formally assembled all the generals at Ji City to discuss the next step in the advance strategy, preparing to thoroughly sweep away the Liangzhou rebellion.

With a hundred thousand troops, in the hall and below it, within the tent and the office, for a time, two-thousand-bushel and one-thousand-bushel officials, far more than a hundred, all sat in rows awaiting orders. Zhang Wen, also brimming with pride, stroked his beard and paced in.

However, as soon as he took his seat, before the generals could pay their respects, a man of imposing physique in the first seat on the left-hand side began to clamor loudly: “Why must the Minister of Works go to such unnecessary trouble, gathering everyone in vain and wasting time? I have been handling things quite appropriately at the front. Please give me another twenty thousand troops, making fifty thousand in total to strike straight at Jincheng, and Liangzhou will surely be pacified!”

Zhang Wen was momentarily choked with anger, but seeing that the speaker was Dong Zhuo, who had rendered great merit, and that the man was a rough fellow who had never studied… how could he easily take issue with him? So he simply ignored him, and with a stern face, took his seat at the head of the gathering.

Who would have thought that Dong Zhuo, ever since the Yellow Turban suppression last year, had suffered repeated misfortunes in battle and had even been imprisoned for a time. Now that he was exalting in his success, and being somewhat crude by nature, he was naturally even more unrestrained. Thus, he continued to speak loudly before everyone, and even directly left his seat to boast of his achievements to the generals in the hall:

“In my opinion, if twenty thousand troops cannot be given to me, my own core force of thirty thousand is not unworkable either, but I would need twenty thousand troops as a rear reserve… It is not that I fear battle, but rather that I traveled many times through the Jincheng region in my youth and know the terrain. As long as we cut off the rebels’ supply lines and take Yuzhong, then…”

Dong Zhuo acted without restraint, gesticulating wildly. The assembled men looked at each other in dismay, all turning their eyes to Zhang Wen, only to find that although Zhang Wen’s face had turned pale, he surprisingly made no move to interrupt him. Thus, they instead assumed that he agreed with Dong Zhuo’s opinion, and truly began to listen to Dong Zhongying expound his plan.

But on the other hand, the senior officers who had been with Zhang Wen at the central command all knew that Dong Zhuo’s words were not at all what Zhang Wen intended — in fact, they were diametrically opposed. And the reason this General of Chariots and Cavalry could tolerate Dong Zhuo’s such insolence was not because he was broad-minded, nor because he respected the other’s military merit, but because he dared not act otherwise.

One must understand that Zhang Wen was a typical bureaucrat. On one hand, he had not neglected his attainments in classical studies; on the other, he was never too vehement in his dealings with the eunuchs, and was even willing to pay money for promotion. Moreover, he had been noticed and promoted in his early years by Cao Cao’s grandfather, Cao Teng. Thus, he could be barely accepted by both the gentry and the eunuchs simultaneously, and was appointed to this post of General of Chariots and Cavalry and Regional Commander.

However, this kind of person was destined to be someone you could never rely on... When he was appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry in Luoyang and was preparing to march west, a famous scholar he had deliberately recruited urged him to seize the chance to purge the eunuchs, and he was so terrified he nearly lost his soul. Earlier, at Meiyang, after Huangfu Song had been removed from his post, Dong Zhuo had originally been quite confident he would become the Regional Commander, so he was very displeased with Zhang Wen. At that time, when he went to pay his respects, he was rather insolent, and Sun Jian advised Zhang Wen to execute Dong Zhuo on the spot to assert his authority — but Zhang Wen was also scared out of his wits.

It is not to say that one truly should have purged the eunuchs at that moment, nor that one could really have killed Dong Zhuo the moment they arrived at Meiyang to assert authority. The problem is, were they not at war? As the Regional Commander of an army, deciding matters of life and death, how can you keep endlessly muddling through? That famous scholar, seeing that he was unwilling to purge the eunuchs, was about to take poison and end his own life, but was persuaded to go into seclusion instead. Sun Jian urged him to kill Dong Zhuo; if he would not kill Dong Zhuo, he should at least have dealt with Sun Jian — yet he merely urged Sun Jian to hurry back so as not to arouse Dong Zhuo's suspicion.

With such a man as Regional Commander, it was destined that no one's heart could be won.

After finishing his speech, Dong Zhuo turned around, and only then did he seem to remember that Zhang Wen was the General of Chariots and Cavalry, so he formally bowed his head and requested battle: "I ask the Excellency of Works to give me twenty thousand troops, and within two months, I shall surely quell this rebellion!"

Zhang Wen could not help but sigh: "General Who Defeats the Caitiffs, restrain your impatience. As for the matter of sending forth troops, the various lords have already reached a conclusion earlier... The one to march on Yuzhong has been chosen otherwise."

"Who?" Dong Zhuo instantly flew into a rage.

"I!"

Zhou Shen, General Who Subdues Bandits, seated at the head of the right-hand side of Zhang Wen, rose directly, hand on his sword, and asked with a solemn expression: "With a hundred-thousand-strong army on campaign, does General Who Defeats the Caitiffs intend to monopolize all the battle honors?"

Dong Zhuo, who had earlier grown arrogant from successive victories, started to speak but stopped, instantly cooling down... Because this General Who Subdues Bandits, Zhou Shen, was no riffraff. Not to mention that his rank and title were nearly identical to his own, Dong Zhongying's — "Subdues Bandits" and "Defeats the Caitiffs," as the names suggest, were clearly parallel. Moreover, their seniority was similar; Zhou Shen had also served as Inspector of Yuzhou and was over forty years old. More importantly, this man came from a renowned family of Liangzhou. They were both men of Liangzhou, but the other's family background was far above his own!

"Does General Who Subdues Bandits wish to earn merit?" Dong Zhuo was stifled for a moment, but in the end he suppressed his anger and asked a single question.

"I am just eager to rid my homeland of bandits." Zhou Shen could not resist adding another remark: "Lord Dong, you have fought battle after battle and are already very weary."

Dong Zhuo, having cooled down, gave a hollow laugh, but there was nothing he could do, so he returned directly to his seat. And indeed, with Zhang Wen's stance and Zhou Shen's initiative in stepping forward, most of those present were inclined to let General Who Subdues Bandits Zhou Shen, whose family status and pedigree were higher, attack the main Han army force at Yuzhong.

"In that case," Dong Zhuo, seeing the situation, forced a smile again, "what if I lead twenty thousand troops to serve as General Who Subdues Bandits' rear support?"

"That will not be necessary either." Zhang Wen, seated at the head, suddenly spoke in a genial tone: "Earlier, many of you gentlemen came to my tent to request battle, and now, as things stand, I also feel that all of you should share in some of the merit. Furthermore, with the army laboring on a distant expedition, coin, grain, and corvée labor are countless, and the rear can hardly sustain it... Therefore, I have actually thought of an excellent idea."

Dong Zhuo felt a rare twinge of unease.

"I intend to divide the army into six routes and settle the matter of Xiliang in a single campaign." Zhang Wen slapped the table and, with a rare display of elation, announced loudly: "General Who Subdues Bandits may lead thirty thousand troops straight to Yuzhong to confront the two rebels Han Sui and Bian Zhang."

"Your subordinate accepts the order!" Zhou Shen stepped forward and respectfully received the command.

"General Who Defeats the Caitiffs, your own force of thirty thousand remains unchanged. You may as well lead your troops north to Anding Commandery to wipe out the Xianlian Qiang who earlier broke away from the rebels!" Zhang Wen then turned to Dong Zhuo with a genial look. "Then let Lord Zhao, Lord Tao, and the others each lead ten thousand men and go separately to Beidi, Wudu, and other places..."

Hearing this, Dong Zhuo finally erupted in fury: "Why does the Excellency of Works treat military matters as child's play? Is this something where everyone who sees it gets a share? Setting aside everything else, take only the Xianlian Qiang — they have lived peacefully in Anding for many years, their foundations are deep, and they are numerous in men and power. Even sending thirty thousand men to campaign against them may not be of any use. But if we can swiftly sweep through Yuzhong and annihilate the rebels, we could instead easily summon their surrender..."

"In that case," Zhang Wen finally grew somewhat impatient, "after General Zhou leads thirty thousand troops to annihilate Han Sui and Bian Zhang, General Dong may go and summon their surrender himself... Why do you repeatedly lose your composure? The remaining rebels before us number only twenty thousand, and there was the earlier omen of the shooting star — could it be that only you are capable of annihilating them?"

Dong Zhuo again wished to speak, but seeing Zhou Shen standing there, hand on his sword, looking down upon him with disdain, he found himself with nothing left to say.

————I am the dividing line of hand-on-sword disdain————

"In the eleventh month, at night there was a shooting star like fire, illuminating the rebel camp. Han Sui and Bian Zhang both deemed it an ill omen and therefore returned to Jincheng. Dong Zhuo joined forces with Right Fufeng Bao Hong and others to attack Zhang and Sui, routing them utterly. Zhang and Sui fled to Yuzhong." — Records of the Three Adjuncts, by Zhao Qi

(End of Chapter)