Chapter 337: The Chanyu in Shanxi (Part 1)

Zhao Ping was not a complete waste.

After all, he was a man who could read and write, had served as a Grand Administrator and as one of the Nine Ministers — one who had seen the flowers at Luoyang's city gates, raced his carriage outside Handan, dug canals south of Xiangguo County, and fled disaster west of Yunzhong Commandery... A man like that, at the very least, views things from a somewhat higher vantage than ordinary people, so the intelligence he brought naturally had some substance.

In fact, after Gongsun Xun had finished thanking the local elders, transferred the Pingcheng County Magistrate who had voluntarily opened the gates to Zhongshan, and appointed an older man from his Volunteer Retainers as the new Pingcheng Magistrate, he was immediately cornered in his Pingcheng quarters by Lou Gui, Tian Feng, and Xi Zhong.

"So the enemies facing Bingzhou are the Xiongnu and the Bobo bandits?" On the couch within the room, Gongsun Xun showed little surprise after hearing the report by candlelight. "Roughly how many are there?"

"The Xiongnu number about a hundred thousand," Lou Gui replied in a grave tone. "The Bobo bandits seem to be somewhat more..."

"The entire Xiongnu tribe has rebelled, wreaking havoc across all of Bingzhou, and yet they only number a hundred thousand?" Gongsun Xun frowned slightly, actually thinking the rebelling Xiongnu were rather few.

"Mainly because when the Xiongnu revolted, the court-recognized sons of the former Chanyu — Yufuluo and Huchuquan — were both leading troops in Hedong under imperial orders, preparing to deal with the Bobo bandits," Xi Zhong hastily added. "So their military strength was somewhat divided, and at the royal court in Xihe there are still a few prudent old princes holding their ground, aiding neither side."

"So that's how it is." Gongsun Xun nodded slowly. "Then where are Yufuluo and Huchuquan now? Shouldn't they have returned to contend for the Chanyu position?"

"They are currently in Shangdang. It is said that initially they planned to request Grand General He to issue an edict and seal to him, and then seek reinforcements to return and seize the Chanyu position, but given the state of the court earlier, who could attend to him? So they were told to wait in the Shangdang and Hedong area..."

"Waiting and waiting until the realm fell into chaos." Gongsun Xun gave a cold laugh. "Even ducal clans and scholars can carve out commanderies and provinces — he is of a noble Xiongnu line stretching back centuries, how could he not grow ambitious? Zhang Yang's ability to establish himself in Shangdang owes partly to his efforts, doesn't it?"

"And partly to the Bobo bandits' efforts as well," Tian Feng answered in a deep voice. "After the turmoil of these past months, the Bobo bandits entrenched in Shangdang and Hedong repeatedly tried to raid Guanzhong, and were seen as a major threat by Dong Zhuo, who dispatched his son-in-law Niu Fu to lead troops to Hedong to suppress them. And Zhang Yang was the very first to raise his banner against Dong..."

"I understand!" Gongsun Xun nodded at once. "In that case, the enemies in Bingzhou are nominally two, but in reality three! One is the hundred thousand Xiongnu rebels who crossed the Yellow River and are raiding Yanmen, Dingxiang, Yunzhong, and northern Taiyuan, led by the false Chanyu Guduhou whom they themselves installed; one is the allied forces of Zhang Yang and Yufuluo entrenched in Shangdang; and the third, naturally, is the Bobo bandits led by Guo Tai and Yang Feng... Is that correct?"

"Correct," Tian Feng answered immediately.

"Not correct." Xi Zhong followed right after, shaking his head slightly.

Tian Feng's expression flickered at these words, but he did not refute them for the moment, and Lou Gui also remained silent.

"Indeed." Gongsun Xun also suddenly realized. "Bingzhou is in total chaos, order has collapsed, and only the greater part of Taiyuan remains intact — yet Taiyuan Grand Administrator Yang Zhong has never been heard of having any exceptional ability. That must mean the great clans of Taiyuan have exerted themselves, relying on the terrain to gather the people and defend themselves, leaving the Bobo bandits and the Xiongnu powerless. And Taiyuan has a great many established clans — the Guo of Yangqu, the Wang of Jinyang, the Wang of Qixian, the Linghu of Yangyi, the Wen of Qixian, the Sun of Zhongdu... Just the ones I can recall offhand, the Taiyuan great clans that have produced officials of the two-thousand-bushel rank for generations are this numerous! Since we intend to annex the three commanderies, we must handle Taiyuan, the heartland of those three commanderies, with great care!"

"The various clans of Taiyuan may not necessarily oppose you, General," Tian Feng countered helplessly. "Setting other matters aside, Grand Administrator Wang Ze is still with the army. Even if you intend to subdue and reorganize them, it would do no harm to postpone it, because at this moment military matters should take precedence — first destroy the other three forces, then campaign against Dong and enter Luoyang, and discuss the rest later."

"Even so, there must be intimidation." Gongsun Xun turned his head to look at Tian Feng, fully confident in his reasoning. "Bingzhou's terrain is complex, supply is difficult, and once we pass Taiyuan and enter Shangdang, we will no longer have a corridor linking us to Youzhou and Jizhou. Yuanhao, I ask you — how can a true man entrust his life and death to others?"

Whether it was because Gongsun Xun was too self-assured in his reasoning and Tian Feng knew he could not change the other's mind, or because the argument itself held merit, Tian Yuanhao did not press the dispute further.

"But that is a matter for the next step. The urgent task at hand is the Xiongnu rebels in northern Bing." Gongsun Xun steered the topic back himself. "Zibo, Yuanhao, Zhicai... do you have anything to instruct me?"

"In my view, this so-called hundred thousand Xiongnu are both a mortal threat and yet nothing to fear!" Lou Gui, not standing on ceremony, rose directly and began pacing the room as he spoke. "And yet they are also exceedingly troublesome."

"Explain in detail."

"A mortal threat, because the Xiongnu are skilled with bow and horse, and their royal court is surrounded on three sides by the great river and shielded by desert, making it extremely difficult to destroy. This time we can only do our utmost to drive them back west of the river." Lou Gui stroked his beard and spoke with eloquence. "To achieve lasting peace, we will need stability in Guanzhong and the three commanderies of Bingzhou as well, and then apply both military and civil measures together — only then can it be done."

"These are words for governing a state." Gongsun Xun thought of his understanding of the Xiongnu from his days as a Separate Division Major in Yanmen, and thoroughly agreed.

"And as for being nothing to fear, that means the Xiongnu's fighting strength is not necessarily terrifying," Lou Gui continued. "I once asked Wei Zidu — Wei Yue — and he said the Xiongnu are not much different from the Wuhuan and Xianbei, and may even be slightly weaker in bow and horse due to long residence on Han lands. Moreover, this hundred thousand in northern Bing are not elite cavalry — merely those in the tribe who can handle bow and horse calling themselves soldiers, along with the old, the weak, the young, plus some mixed Hu and scattered Qiang, totaling a hundred thousand in name only... An army of this sort, no matter how many, is useless in battle. Even if they could all assemble, right here in Yanmen, though we have only twenty thousand troops, we could face them openly in formation and shatter their army in a single battle."

"Well said." Gongsun Xun again affirmed his judgment. "But the trouble is, they simply cannot assemble in one place... Is that the meaning?"

"Exactly as my lord says." Lou Gui sighed. "A hundred thousand... from Yunzhong to Dingxiang, from Yanmen to the northern face of Taiyuan, scattered everywhere in chaos... Even their false Chanyu Guduhou probably cannot gather them. But if we try to drive them off — how can twenty thousand troops drive off a hundred thousand? Even if we could drive them, once we leave, what if they cross the river and raid Yanmen again? We must fight a battle and inflict a severe slaughter once, only then can we overawe them for several years."

"Is there no good stratagem?" Gongsun Xun also frowned for a moment.

Lou Gui, Tian Feng, and Xi Zhong all looked embarrassed... Xi Zhong was somewhat better off, as he was no longer willing to speak much on military matters, but Lou Zibo and Tian Yuanhao — one taking military planning as his duty, the other always rather self-assured, and both just appointed as Left and Right Army Adviser Generals of the Household — were actually speechless.

"That figures." Gongsun Xun could not help but laugh. "You are all new to Bingzhou — even Zibo back then only briefly garrisoned here for a few days after returning from Mount Danhan... As the saying goes, even a clever wife cannot cook without rice. And when it comes to the local culture, geography, customs, and conditions, I actually know the most... Where is that false Chanyu?"

"Dingxiang, Luo County — near what later became Qingshuihe County in Inner Mongolia."

"I recall the court previously appointed a General Who Crosses the Liao... who was it, and where is he?"

"Jia Cong, Lord Jia, at Yinguan, but he is already dead."

"Who is the Grand Administrator of Yanmen?"

"Han Zhuo, Han Zizhu."

"What of the situation in Dingxiang?"

"The entire commandery is overrun... no one has come to assume the Grand Administrator post for over half a year."

"Zhang Yi died in battle, Ding Yuan abandoned his defense, Dong Zhuo did not come to take office." Gongsun Xun, already reclining sideways on the couch, shook his head helplessly. "I come to campaign against Dong, yet instead I must clean up the calamities they stirred up..."

"That is precisely how you can win the hearts of Bingzhou," Xi Zhong could not resist interjecting. "Setting military matters aside for now, you can use this as a pretext to issue a proclamation summoning Yanmen Grand Administrator Han Zhuo and the various county magistrates and chiefs to come see you, General, of their own accord."

"Without fighting a single battle, how can we properly gather them?" Gongsun Xun shook his head even more. "No matter what, the Dingxiang commandery seat of Shanwu — later Zuoyun and Youyu counties — is not far west of Pingcheng. Let us first drive Guduhou away, open the road to Yunzhong, and then issue a proclamation to assemble the officials of Yanmen and have them come see me at Shanwu."

The three men, Lou Gui among them, had nothing to say in reply.

On the eleventh day of the tenth month, just ten days into Gongsun Xun's western campaign, his forces engaged the Xiutu tribes of the Xiongnu at Shanwu in Dingxiang. The Xiutu tribes, utterly disorganized and caught by surprise, collapsed almost at the first clash, fleeing south and scattering west, yielding Shanwu without a fight. And the Xiongnu false Chanyu Xubu Guduhou, just over a hundred li west of Shanwu, was for a time panicked and restless, like a startled bird.

——————— I am the dividing line of a Shaanxi native who migrated to Shanxi ———————

"The Chizhishizhuhou Chanyu Yufuluo was established in the fifth year of Zhongping. The people of the state then revolted against the one who had killed his father, jointly installing Xubu Guduhou as Chanyu, while Yufuluo went to the imperial palace to plead his case. It happened that Emperor Ling passed away and the realm fell into chaos. The Chanyu led several thousand riders to join forces with the Bobo bandits and raid the commanderies of Henei. At that time the people were all gathered in fortified settlements, so plundering yielded no profit, and the army consequently suffered setbacks. He wished to return to his state, but the people of the state would not accept him, so he halted in Hedong and Shangdang." — Book of the Later Han, Biography of the Southern Xiongnu

PS: Thanks to the thirty-first patron, the culinary enthusiast from Jiaozhou, classmate Hanmen, for the reward.

Also, it's the New Year... I, with my feeble updates, wish everyone a happy New Year... clap clap clap!

Got the wrong person, so embarrassing... the thirty-first patron is Yu Zhuang's father... wanted to correct it but felt like I'd be destroying the evidence... so awkward right at New Year's

(End of Chapter)