Chapter 468: The Coiling Dragon of Wancheng, Though Esteemed

"The General of the Guard, having been honored with the title of Duke, has now honored his mother, Lady Liu of Qiaoxian in Peiguo, as the Empress Dowager of Yan, and by decree established his wife, Lady Zhao Yun of Qinghe, as the Empress of Yan. All his other ladies are to be addressed as Consorts... He has appointed Lu Fan of Runan as the Prime Minister of Yan..."

In a relay station east of Wancheng in Nanyang, outside the window the early spring wind still carried a biting chill. Inside, a young man barely past the capping age stood before a couch, holding a document and reading it aloud to the person reclining upon it.

"Hold there!" No sooner had he begun than the man lying on the couch — none other than Cao Cao, styled Mengde, hailed as one of the Twin Jewels of the Central Plains — suddenly tossed aside the warm cloth from his forehead and spoke with curiosity. "Has he not even designated an heir?"

"In reply to my lord," the young man, Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang, immediately shook his head. "There is no mention of establishing an heir. At the very least, the report within this document makes no reference to it..."

"Then he certainly hasn't appointed one. But is he not afraid of trouble arising?" Cao Cao, barefoot, flipped over and sat up, stroking his beard with a face full of puzzlement. "Others aside, his second son, Gongsun Ping, is betrothed to Dong Zhuo's granddaughter. And Gongsun Ping's maternal grandfather, Feng Fang, was a Master of Writing in the Imperial Secretariat decades ago and can be considered a long-serving figure in the central court. With such a background, he naturally enjoys the support of the civil and military officials from Guanxi. And the so-called Hebei territory is actually composed of two major blocs — Hebei and Guanxi — which already have friction between them. If chaos broke out over this, it would hardly be unusual, would it?"

This topic was rather sensitive, and Cao Ang could only respond with silence.

"And another thing — has he not posthumously honored his father?" Cao Cao, collecting his thoughts, continued his inquiry. "Should that not have been the very first thing to do? Why have I heard nothing of it?"

"It is mentioned further down. It says that the General of the Guard initially intended to bestow upon his father the posthumous title 'Wen,' making him Duke Wen of Yan, but no one approved. Some even told him to his face that it was absurd. He did not press the matter and simply set it aside." Cao Ang, having already skimmed through the entire document once, answered promptly.

"I understand now!" Cao Cao, instead of being puzzled, suddenly laughed in realization. "It was not that he wanted to grant 'Wen' to his birth father — what achievements did his birth father have to be worthy of being called Duke Wen of Yan? He wanted to honor his mother... He believes his mother's achievements are fully worthy of the designation 'Wen.' But since his mother is still alive, it was awkward to state it plainly, so he simply set the matter aside."

"So the husband was to receive a fine posthumous title through his wife?" Cao Ang could not help but be astonished.

"If Lady Gongsun were to pass away today, she could receive this posthumous title tomorrow." Cao Cao lay back down with a sigh. "'Wen' — one who regulates heaven and earth; one whose virtue and learning are broad; one diligent in study and fond of inquiry; one compassionate and kind, loving the people... It truly fits her perfectly. Continue reading. I am keen to hear about the Yan state's bureaucratic structure — that is the essential point."

"Yes!" Cao Ang hastily raised the document again and read aloud. "Appoints Lu Fan of Xiyang in Runan as Prime Minister of Yan; Shen Pei of Wei Commandery as Left Chancellor; Lou Gui of Nanyang as Right Chancellor..."

"So Lou Zibo has finally made his way up in the world..."

"The State of Yan establishes three Departments. First, the Department of the Palace Secretariat, which oversees confidential affairs and issues government decrees, led by the Prime Minister. Second, the Department of State Affairs, which oversees confidential matters, coordinates the documents received by all ministries, boards, bureaus, and offices, and reviews and annotates them, led by the Left Chancellor. Third, the Department of the Chancellery, which oversees confidential matters and is exclusively responsible for oversight and the rejection of government decrees, led by the Right Chancellor..."

"The same old framework." Cao Cao, lying there, dismissed it with indifference. "This is essentially merging the Three Excellencies, the Imperial Secretariat, and the Yellow Gate Supervisors into one, then dividing them into three... The Palace Secretariat sets policy from the center; the State Affairs manages incoming matters; the Chancellery manages outgoing matters — divided among the three chancellors. If I am not mistaken, in the future the White Horse Volunteers will also fall under the jurisdiction of the Chancellery. That is the greatest foundation for Lou Zibo's appointment to this post. Still, regardless, this does make the lines of authority and responsibility much clearer. There is some novelty in it."

"Father is absolutely right; your son thinks so as well." Cao Ang could not resist adding a remark. "Incoming, decision-making, outgoing — the order is clear, authority and responsibility are distinct, and with the three standing side by side, no single one can become overly dominant..."

"Continue reading..."

"Yes." Cao Zixiu hurriedly lowered his head and continued reading. "Beneath the three Departments, six Ministries are established: the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Revenue. Each Ministry has one Minister and two Vice Ministers of the Left and Right, directly overseeing the various provinces, commanderies, counties, districts, and villages. Twelve Courts are also established, still subordinate to the three Departments: the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Court of State Ceremonial, the Court of the Imperial Clan, the Court of Judicial Review, the Court of the Privy Treasurer, the Court of the Imperial Stud, the Court of the Grand Minister of Agriculture, the Court of the Imperial Architect, the Court of the Yellow Pavilion, the Court of Printing, the Court of Astronomy, and the Court of the Palace Garrison..."

"This goes without saying even more." Cao Cao grew increasingly bored. "Gongsun Wenqi's intentions are known to every passerby. The six Ministries are directly copied from the six Bureaus of the Imperial Secretariat. The twelve Courts are nothing more than the Nine Ministers plus the Directorate of Astronomy, the Yellow Pavilion, and a Court of Printing specially established now that the printing of books, proclamations, and documents has become prevalent."

"Exactly so."

"However," Cao Cao, lying on the couch, sneered mockingly, "even as brazen as Gongsun Wenqi is, he still has difficulties. For instance, there is no mention of the disposition of the Anli Trading Company. Presumably, as long as his mother lives, he cannot truly incorporate the Anli Company into the Yan state's system... Is there more? What about the Censorate and such?"

"Of course there is more!" Cao Zixiu hurriedly read on. "Four Boards are also established: the Censorate Board, the Finance Board, the Privy Council Board, and the Pacification Board. The Censorate oversees inspection and is led by Tian Feng of Julu. The Finance Board oversees finances and is led by Wang Xiu of Beihai. The Privy Council Board oversees military mobilization and is led by Han Dang of Liaoxi. The Pacification Board's authority is not clearly defined, but it is led by Xi Zhong of Yingchuan, with Guo Jia as deputy — its purpose is self-evident... It is further stated that the three Chancellors of the three Departments and the heads of the four Boards shall all have seats at the Bronze Bird Terrace in Yexia and be collectively referred to as the Terrace Ministers. In the event of extraordinary circumstances, such as the sovereign being away or underage, the seven ministers shall deliberate jointly and may provisionally decide all state affairs. Even the generals at Yexia must obey their orders!"

Cao Cao abruptly sat up again, but then revealed a mocking expression and slowly lay back down. "This is imitating the Former Han, returning real power to the Chancellors! No wonder he repeatedly divided authority and established checks before, weakening the power of the three Chancellors — so he was waiting for this moment! But he fails to consider that while he lives, with the prestige of the state's founder, there will naturally be harmony between sovereign and ministers. But after he dies, won't his son have to replay the story of Emperor Wu of Han with these seven Chancellors, with the sovereign and ministers struggling for power? And these seven Chancellors, entangled in government, military, finance, oversight, and intelligence, will certainly oppose each other and find it hard to unify. Yet conversely, it will also be extremely difficult to completely suppress them... Add the Anli Company into the mix, and then this Gongsun clan's State of Yan, even if it lasts for ten thousand generations, will inevitably see turmoil for ten thousand generations!"

Cao Ang hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

"Does Zixiu have something to say?" Cao Cao was dismissive.

"Yes, Father." Cao Ang gathered his courage and spoke solemnly. "Previously, when your son studied under Master Xun (Xun Yue), I felt that what Master Xun said was extremely reasonable — that even the most exalted sovereign can make mistakes, can be in the wrong... Consider this: if during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling there had been such seven Chancellors with real power, how could the state have collapsed to such a degree? If the Son of Heaven of the Great Han, in his youth, had always had such seven Chancellors mutually checking each other in governance, how could eunuchs and external relatives have brought disaster upon the state to this extent?"

"Xun Yue's scholarship is good, and his views are correct." Cao Cao glanced at his eldest son and spoke with measured gravity. "Otherwise, I would not have sent you to be his student. Even the argument you made today is, in fact, correct... When the Son of Heaven is brilliant and wishes to achieve something, these seven Chancellors will inevitably be a hindrance. But when the state is in decline and the Son of Heaven is incompetent, this system can indeed guarantee a baseline. Compared to that, matters like the great clans growing powerful or the struggle between sovereign and ministers seem rather insignificant. Presumably, Gongsun Wenqi did this precisely because of the lessons of the Han imperial house. However, Zixiu..."

"Yes!"

"Never mind Emperor Ling, but Emperor Huan was not muddled or incompetent. He merely initiated the Partisan Prohibitions, which drew the loathing of the scholar-officials. As for the eunuchs... do you not know that your great-grandfather was a powerful eunuch? Was he also a man who brought disaster upon the state?" Cao Cao looked sidelong at his eldest son, his tone unavoidably earnest. "You have come of age and will marry a daughter of the Sun clan this summer. You should not always listen to the words of just one school. Read some works of the Legalists and Daoists as well. For example, that Guo Tu of Yingchuan — though he is a petty man known to all under heaven, his family's knowledge of law is universally acknowledged as excellent. Recently, in Yexia, they printed a book of his, 'Commentary on the Lesser Du Code,' which he supposedly wrote while herding sheep beneath the Yin Mountains. Your father thinks it is quite good. Why not buy a copy and read it?"

"Yes. Your son spoke out of turn. I will go buy 'Commentary on the Lesser Du Code' and read it immediately." Cao Ang bowed and acknowledged the order.

Cao Mengde nodded with satisfaction... This was precisely what was satisfying about Cao Ang — the boy was always filial and very obedient to his father.

However, just as he watched his son put down the document and head out the door, Cao Mengde reached for the document to peruse it carefully. He had just read that the State of Yan would not employ eunuchs and was chuckling at this when he suddenly heard his son's voice raised outside in the courtyard:

"Greetings, Chief Clerk Xun!"

Sensing trouble, Cao Cao hastily put down the document, retrieved the face cloth he had tossed into the corner of the couch, and, heedless of its icy coldness, slapped it directly onto his head. He then lay supine on the couch, narrowed his eyes, and feigned ignorance.

Xun Yu entered the room carrying a faint fragrance. Seeing Cao Cao playing dead on the couch, he sighed but did not expose the ruse. Instead, he simply stood in the spot where Cao Ang had been earlier, picked up the document, and began reading it, remaining silent for a long while.

Cao Cao feigned for a long time. The cloth on his forehead was ice-cold, and the chill wind from outside the window made it even more unbearable. Eventually, he even felt a faint headache coming on. He simply grabbed the face cloth, hurled it to the ground, flipped over and sat up, exasperated. "Wenruo, what do you think of this Yan state's national system?"

"The design is ingenious and captures the essence of Legalist governance quite well. Unfortunately, it lacks a place for morality and the human heart..." Xun Yu answered softly. "Moreover, the more perfect the system, the more it reveals that this man has long harbored designs upon the realm."

"What you've said today, Wenruo, is all nonsense." Cao Mengde, sitting cross-legged and barefoot on the couch, for once did not spare Xun Yu's feelings. "Do you and I not already know these things? If it were not that Gongsun Xun has long desired to usurp the Han, and if it were not that his governance philosophy diverges from ours, how would we have arrived at today's situation? But Wenruo, now is not the time to think about him — it is that we ourselves can barely hold on!"

"The Son of Heaven is young..." Xun Yu began slowly, helplessly.

"And has lost virtue!" Cao Cao remained impatient. "I have inquired clearly with old acquaintances in Chang'an. The death of Liu Boan was witnessed by multitudes! It cannot be blamed on Yang Qi, can it? Besides, Yang Qi also committed suicide to atone for his crime. What more is there to say?"

"In truth, this matter cannot be separated from the General of the Guard!" Xun Yu paused slightly but still spoke slowly. "The Son of Heaven's flight from the capital was likely deliberately lured out by his schemes... Zhong Yuanchang is clear proof of this!"

Cao Cao nodded slightly, then slowly shook his head. "So what?"

Xun Wenruo also responded with silence.

In truth, Gongsun Xun's earlier stratagem did have one extremely obvious flaw: the behind-the-scenes operator, Zhong Yao, styled Yuanchang, had been forced by circumstances — plans not keeping pace with changes — to reveal some traces...

First, the timing of his appearance at Wuguan was far too coincidental. The Son of Heaven had just passed through when he arrived leading troops.

Second, as the Governor of Yongzhou and the man who in practice represented Gongsun Xun in overseeing the Chang'an court, Zhong Yao was actually the person primarily responsible for the Son of Heaven's flight. As the saying goes, when a tiger or rhinoceros escapes its cage, or when tortoiseshell and jade are destroyed within their box, whose fault is it? It is, of course, the keeper's responsibility! Yet Zhong Yuanchang did not receive any punishment for this. Instead, it was Gongsun Zan, who had been temporarily thrust into the role, who took the blame!

Therefore, after detailed exchanges with Yang Biao and others, clever men of the highest order like Cao Cao and Xun Yu roughly understood what had happened.

To put it plainly, the Son of Heaven was too young and lacked composure, and in the end, he was completely toyed with in the palm of Gongsun Xun's hand. However, the Son of Heaven's side was also forced into a corner with no other options and had a certain degree of awareness. There was clearly a hint of mutual acquiescence — each going along with the other's scheme.

So, at this point, investigating the flight itself was utterly meaningless. The key lay in the current situation.

And what was the current situation?

It was simple. First, regardless of anything else, the Son of Heaven and the Chang'an nobles and ancestral temples had formed a pattern of complete schism. The authority of the Han imperial house, after Dong Zhuo moved the capital, had once again fallen to an unprecedented low. And whether it was a conspiracy or not, Liu Yu's death had saddled the Son of Heaven with an enormous infamy that was difficult to bear!

In other words, the Son of Heaven's value had fallen to its lowest point.

However, just because the Son of Heaven's value had fallen to its lowest point did not mean the Central Plains warlords could abandon him... For, not to mention that the two Han imperial kinsmen had to consider the influence of their surname, nor that Cao Cao had to consider the powerful Yingchuan and Nanyang scholar-official factions within his own ranks — just one thing alone: the Central Plains warlords could only maintain a strategic balance in the face of Gongsun Xun by preserving their alliance, and this alliance could only be sustained under the banner of restoring the Han.

Therefore, this minor court, of extremely low value and even somewhat negative effect, was one that Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Liu Biao still had to reverently and respectfully enshrine.

And if it were merely this, it would still be tolerable — just a bit nauseating, not affecting the overall situation.

In fact, Cao Cao had already discussed it with Xun Yu at the time: once the situation calmed down, they would find an opportunity to send the Son of Heaven to Chen Commandery, the heartland of Cao Cao's faction. Not to hold the Son of Heaven to command the warlords, nor to serve the Son of Heaven to command the disloyal, but simply to generally support the young Son of Heaven, ensure he caused no trouble, and conveniently use his name to grant everyone official titles and the like. That would be quite nice.

But — and here was the "but"!

Gongsun Xun was utterly shameless. Having clearly gained an enormous advantage, he instead put on an act, assuming the posture of a victim, and requested that the Son of Heaven return... Under no circumstances could they actually send him back, could they?

In this grand strategic standoff between Hebei and the Central Plains, to send back the greatest variable outside the two — the Son of Heaven of the Han — would cause the Central Plains alliance to collapse of its own accord!

Yet before this nauseating affair had even ended, the three families had joined forces, with great difficulty persuaded the Son of Heaven to stay, and barely managed to devise the expedient measure of appeasing Gongsun Xun with the title of Grand General. And then, lo and behold, Gongsun Xun directly assumed the title of Duke and established his state institutions!

This is the rhythm of usurping the Han!

And so Nanyang erupted into turmoil once more. The young Son of Heaven nearly wept as he pointed at the noses of the three Central Plains lords and demanded: Are you still loyal ministers of the Great Han or not?

Of course we are!

Do you still wish to uphold the House of Han?

We certainly do!

Then send forth troops to punish the traitorous rebel?

That, we truly cannot do... We are not prepared! We have made no preparations at all for a large-scale decisive battle!

Then when can you be ready?

It was under this kind of interrogation that the Great Han loyalist and newly appointed Minister of Works, Cao Mengde, fled to a relay station to play dead... There was nowhere else to go. Gongsun Xun had sent over the last batch of palace attendants and maids of the Han court, and Nanyang had no proper palaces, so the whole lot simply occupied every government office in Wancheng, large and small. The former county office had become Grand Commandant Yang's residence — what more did they expect?

Moreover, unlike Liu Biao and Liu Bei, who merely sent a few envoys here, Cao Cao had to stay in Wancheng every day to keep an eye on things. Otherwise, given the young Son of Heaven's current unseemly behavior and the Nanyang region's traditional centripetal loyalty to the Han house, it would likely be only a matter of days before Nanyang truly bore the surname Liu!

Have you not seen? That Deng Zhi of Nanyang, a talent whom Cao Mengde greatly valued, of distinguished lineage, a descendant of Deng Yu, the foremost meritorious minister of Emperor Guangwu — yet for this very reason, he was immediately promoted by the young Son of Heaven to Palace Attendant. Although Deng Zhi came specially to explain himself to Cao Cao after Cao Cao arrived, what exactly is this supposed to mean? How could Cao Cao ever trust Deng Zhi again?

In short, Cao Mengde was truly being driven to illness by the young Son of Heaven... But he was, after all, a hero of his generation. He saw clearly in his heart, understood what mattered, and knew who the real enemy was at this moment. Only thus did he barely manage to endure it.

"Wenruo!" Returning to the present, Cao Cao nodded and then shook his head. Seeing Xun Yu remain silent, he finally pointed out the crux of the matter. "This time the Son of Heaven has sojourned to Nanyang. Let us not speak of the various minor details, and I will not even pursue the matter of Ding Chong... Let us speak only of one thing: in the end, is it to be war or peace?"

Xun Yu, too, sighed with rare weariness, yet remained silent.

"If we fight, I fear we fall into Gongsun Xun's stratagem. We discussed before that it would be best to wait another two or three years, even delay until around the tenth year of Jian'an — the longer we can delay, the better. By then, that batch of battle-hardened elite troops under Gongsun Wenqi will have aged and retired, his generals grown idle. Then we could leverage the numerical superiority of the Central Plains population, mobilize Liu Xuande's troops and Liu Jingsheng's logistical reserves, and fight him to the death across the river!" Cao Cao continued, spreading his hands from the couch. "But now? Most of his elite troops with major battle experience are still in the army. A mere three years might even have allowed them to conserve strength and build energy... If we clash with him now, we are surely short by at least two parts in ten of victory, are we not?"

Xun Yu's face showed worry: "But if we do not fight, and sit by watching the General of the Guards establish a state and declare himself Duke, ignoring the Son of Heaven's posture, then the Han house will have no dignity left to speak of — it will exist in name only. And without the great righteousness of the Han house, how can we maintain the covenant? If the Central Plains covenant dissolves, will we not be calmly divided and swallowed by the General of the Guards one by one? At that point, I fear we would not have even half a part in ten of victory!"

"It is not only that." Cao Cao shook his head repeatedly. "Have you considered that Gongsun Xun schemed painstakingly to make the Son of Heaven flee — could he possibly have no follow-up preparations? As I estimate it, even if we find a way to maintain peace, he will use the pretext of requesting the Son of Heaven's return to court to formally open war against us!"

"Then there is no choice but to fight!" Xun Yu's brow furrowed further. "This is what truly worries you, my lord, is it not? The General of the Guards devised this extraordinary stratagem, truly killing two birds with one stone: on one hand, successfully dividing the Han house and conveniently declaring himself Duke and establishing institutions; on the other, setting the great balance of the realm into upheaval and conveniently opening war to decide supremacy over the Central Plains! And we are truly caught off guard, utterly unprepared!"

"Wenruo." Cao Cao reached out and grasped the other's hand. "I will not hide it from you — these past few days I have truly been unable to eat or sleep well. Every day when I close my eyes, my dreams are filled with thoughts of this war... Sometimes I wonder whether I should simply surrender and be done with it. Yet every time I wake, I always feel unwilling to resign myself! Sometimes I think again: can I truly not win a single battle, calmly seize back the great balance of the realm, revive the House of Han, and then we would become figures like the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao! But every time I wake, when I consider my own military strength and the enemy's power, I always feel weak and powerless!"

"My lord!" Xun Yu straightened his expression and replied. "At this juncture, excessive brooding is useless. If you surrender now, then all the toil of so many years, all the ambition of so many years — would it not all become a joke? What would our lives, yours and mine, amount to? And how could we face those who came before us and those who will come after? Moreover, I wish to ask you once more, my lord: at this moment, in this situation, if the realm of Han cannot look to you, to whom else can it look? Will you truly sit by and watch the General of the Guards replace the Han with Yan?"

"I know excessive brooding is useless." Cao Cao sighed. "These words are merely private thoughts I can only speak to you, Wenruo... In truth, do I not understand myself? In the great balance of the Central Plains, if not me, then who? Very well, send out the letters. Invite Liu Biao and Liu Bei to meet again at Xinye. Also request the Son of Heaven to move his carriage there and personally summon the two Han imperial kinsmen, to give encouragement!"

"Then let the letters be sent!" Xun Yu was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "My lord, please remember this firmly: the situation in the Central Plains, the great momentum of the realm, the rivers and mountains of the House of Han — if not you, then who?!"

————I am the dividing line of being truly a little afraid in my heart————

"When Xun had declared himself Duke and established institutions, Nanyang sent no word at all. Someone congratulated Xun, saying: 'The lords of the Central Plains, even united, have only three parts in ten chance of victory. This must mean Cao knows of your divine martial prowess, my Duke, and will personally escort the Son of Heaven back to Chang'an.' Xun laughed and said: 'Ever since we were youths, Mengde has never submitted to me. In eighteen years, without even half a part of victory, he never changed. How could he change today, when he has three parts of victory? Wait for the great battle!'" — Records of the Heroes of the Late Han, by Wang Can

PS: Routine Friday leave request... Tomorrow's chapter will have to wait until the next morning to read. My sincere apologies — this kind of life is too exhausting; when I can't hold on, I simply can't hold on.

(End of Chapter)