Chapter 73: Withdrawal of Colonies (Part 1)

"Halt! We make camp right here!"

Several dozen li west of Wuzhou, the westernmost city of Yanmen Commandery, the sky had not yet fully darkened, but the wind was growing stronger by the moment. At a gesture from Gongsun Xun, Cheng Pu immediately directed the penal conscripts to begin setting up camp.

Of course, within Han territory, a mere two hundred penal conscripts, a few dozen armored soldiers, and seven or eight commandery clerks — calling it "setting up camp" was generous. It amounted to little more than picking a spot sheltered from the wind, propping up cloth screens and leather canopies, then gathering a few stones and logs to form a crude barrier line alongside the accompanying wagons.

In the end, Cheng Pu could not bear to look at it and had a trench dug on the spot beside the wagons. Even this, however, was enough to stir some grumbling and discontent among the penal conscripts.

To put it plainly, the Great Han had no such thing as slavery. "Penal conscripts" were merely convicts mustered as garrison laborers with the treatment of civilian corvée workers; they still retained basic human rights.

"I can't figure out what this Grand Administrator Zhang is really thinking." While the penal conscripts pitched the tents, Gongsun Xun muttered quietly with Lu Fan. "I went to him looking to scrounge supplies, and instead he tells me to cross the Yellow River to Wuyuan Commandery, saying that if I make the trip a few times, I'll get veteran soldiers, warhorses, even military provisions... Where would such a good deal come from? Is he not just fooling me?"

"Surely not?" Lu Fan tightened his cloak and answered with some difficulty. "Isn't this Zhang Qi, Lord Prefect of Zhang, from Qinghe? He and Wenqi's father-in-law are both fellow townsmen and good friends... He shouldn't be toying with us like this."

"Fellow townsmen, nothing more — where do you get good friends?" Gongsun Xun could not help shaking his head. "When I first came to Yanmen, my father-in-law wrote saying this man is most adept at trimming his sails to the wind... I fear it was only after my father-in-law won renown in a single battle, became famous across the realm, and was promptly enfeoffed as a marquis that they became 'good friends' and he started calling me 'worthy nephew.'"

"Isn't officialdom always like this?" Lu Fan said dismissively. "It's rather you, Wenqi, who has lately grown somewhat impatient and restless... Why let it come to this?"

Gongsun Xun faltered at these words, then immediately fell into self-reflection.

After all, he had started as a commandery clerk himself and had, more or less, climbed up through the middle echelons of the Great Han bureaucracy. How could he not understand the ways of officialdom? Zang Min's evasions, Zhang Qi's insincerity — these were the norm in official circles. As Lu Ziheng had admonished, anyone with real experience ought to set aside all such emotions and focus on solving the problem at hand.

Yet then again, whenever he thought about how a great chaos would erupt in just a few years, how could he, Gongsun Xun, not feel a desperate urgency to get his hands on a military force?

"Young lord!" Just as Gongsun Xun's thoughts wandered, Han Dang suddenly reined in his horse beside him. "Military Clerk Zhang has arrived."

Gongsun Xun nodded slightly, then hurriedly put on a smiling face and went to greet him: "Sir Zhang, you've worked hard!"

"Ai, a mere petty clerk — how dare I be called 'Sir' in front of a Major?" The accompanying Yanmen Commandery Military Section Clerk, Zhang Ze, immediately declined from horseback upon hearing this.

"Sir Zhang is nearing forty, fully worthy of being called an elder." Gongsun Xun waved it off, then naturally rode alongside him and spread his own cloak to shield the other man from the wind. "Xun is barely past twenty; how could I not treat you with due courtesy?"

Now, Gongsun Xun had been in Yanmen for three or four months already. Although he had stayed in Pingcheng the whole time, presenting an image of utter harmlessness — interested in nothing but roe deer — how could the commandery's officials possibly ignore a detached-battalion Major of Thousand-Bushel rank stationed in their territory? Who among them did not know his background? And a man who could rise to Military Section Clerk of an entire commandery was bound to come from a prominent local family, possess some ability and skill — how could he be ignorant of such things?

So when Zhang Ze saw this attitude from the other party, he instead burst out laughing: "If Major Gongsun has something he wishes to ask, ask freely. I, Zhang, absolutely dare not accept such courteous treatment from you!"

The man was so forthright that Gongsun Xun was left looking rather embarrassed instead. Even so, the hand with which he shielded the other from the wind never stopped moving.

"To be frank with you, Military Clerk Zhang." Seeing his lord's embarrassment, Lu Fan, who was beside them, hurriedly cupped his hands. "It's not that we have anything in particular to pry into; we merely wish to consult an elder. Your Lord Prefect says that making a trip to Wuyuan will yield soldiers, horses, and supplies... What exactly is the reasoning behind this? Not knowing the details, we truly feel uneasy!"

Military Clerk Zhang understood at once and hastened to explain: "I see... In truth, Major Gongsun and you gentlemen need not be suspicious. My Lord Prefect is indeed acting with good intentions, and this trip to Wuyuan is indeed an excellent assignment, because we are going to coordinate the withdrawal of military-agricultural colonies."

Gongsun Xun and Lu Fan exchanged a glance, now even more bewildered. The latter immediately asked again: "May I ask what this 'withdrawal of colonies' means?"

"The so-called withdrawal of colonies," Military Clerk Zhang said, his expression growing slightly more serious, "refers to the fact that because of excessive harassment by the Xianbei and Qiang, some colony outposts simply cannot be sustained, so the civilian households there are relocated to the interior. This has been a specially permitted policy of the court in recent years for the commanderies of western and northern Bing Province. But setting that aside, Major Gongsun and you gentlemen should think about it — a wretched place like Wuyuan, with barely four or five Battalion Commander spread across a dozen cities — the so-called civilian households there are really no different from military households. Every family raises horses, every man is skilled in battle; they are naturally elite cavalrymen..."

Hearing this, Gongsun Xun, Lu Fan, and Han Dang exchanged glances once more, and all of their eyes lit up — who would have thought that this Yanmen Grand Administrator Zhang Qi had actually pointed them toward a broad, smooth road!

Seeing that Gongsun Xun had grasped the point, Military Clerk Zhang very tactfully said no more.

"Then we thank Sir Zhang." Seeing that Gongsun Xun now understood, Lu Fan promptly thanked the man on behalf of his lord.

"What is there to thank?" Military Clerk Zhang could not help smiling. "Had I known you gentlemen were unclear in your minds, I should have explained it to Major Gongsun earlier, and spared you all a journey filled with suspicion... and such excessive courtesy."

Everyone laughed together, then could not help feeling awkward... The matter had been explained so simply that it had caught them off guard. The camp was still being set up over there, the few of them were standing together, Gongsun Xun was still holding up his cloak to shield the other from the wind, and it would be rude to shoo him away — yet for a moment, no one knew what else to say.

"Er... may I ask where Sir Zhang is originally from? Yanmen is vast — I wonder which place you hail from, and whether your family has dwelt there for generations?" Gongsun Xun was making conversation for conversation's sake. In this age, when there was nothing to say, asking someone's native place and discussing their ancestors was never wrong.

"I am from Mayi." Sure enough, Military Clerk Zhang Ze sighed softly upon hearing this. "And as for dwelling there for generations... to be frank with Major Gongsun and you gentlemen, it is far more than mere generations. Our Yanmen Zhang clan existed in Mayi for several generations even before our lineage formally began."

"That is rather interesting." Lu Fan beside them looked quite curious. "The lore of surnames stretches far back. If one says a certain surname originated in a certain place, that is common enough — after all, in ancient times under the feudal system, many royal scions and nobles changed their surnames upon arriving at their fiefs. But to say a family existed in a place before their lineage formally began — I can only think of the example of the Zhuge clan of Langya... In the days of Qin and Han, the descendants of Ge Ying lived there for a long time. Later, Emperor Wu of Han, pitying that Ge Ying had been unjustly killed, enfeoffed his descendant as Marquis of Zhuxian, and so most of Ge Ying's descendants changed their surname to Zhuge..."

Gongsun Xun, listening to talk of Zhuge, Emperor Wu, and changing surnames, was letting his thoughts drift when something suddenly occurred to him, and he blurted out: "Sir Zhang, could you be a descendant of Nie Yi, who changed his surname to escape enmity?"

Lu Fan was instantly stunned: "Is that so? The Nie Yi of the Mayi Scheme?"

Military Clerk Zhang smiled bitterly at this: "Major Gongsun, so young yet so widely learned — this is indeed the origin of our Yanmen Zhang clan... However, you two must give me some face and not call out my ancestor's name in public."

Gongsun Xun and Lu Fan hurriedly apologized. But the latter could not suppress his growing curiosity and pressed on: "Three hundred years have passed — I naturally understand not dwelling on old affairs. I merely wonder, from whom exactly did your esteemed ancestor flee enmity? Was it the Xiongnu, or the family of Wang Hui who took his own life, that he went so far as to change his surname?"

"Both!" Military Clerk Zhang sighed with deep feeling. "At that time, the war between Han and Xiongnu raged without cease. Living in a border commandery, my ancestor feared retaliation from the Xiongnu and also feared retaliation from the Wang clan, so he temporarily changed his surname to Zhang. Later, when Emperor Wu won his great victory and Wei and Huo established their merits, the family once wished to change it back — but then Jin Midi, a Xiongnu royal clansman, rose to overwhelming power in the court, and so they simply abandoned the idea."

Lu Fan shook his head at this: "As far as I know, the Jin clan flourished for generations, but when Wang Mang usurped the throne and threw the realm into chaos, they fled to Shandong and changed their surname to Cong to escape disaster. And that rebel Ma Heluo, whom Jin Midi seized in the palace back in the day — his descendants also changed their surname to Mang to escape disaster... Truly, truly, I don't know what to say."

Military Clerk Zhang could not help smiling bitterly once more.

"All in the past now." Gongsun Xun's patience had long since worn thin; he seized the chance to wrap things up. "Matters from centuries ago — why speak of them further?"

"That is true enough — all in the past." Zhang Ze nodded in agreement. "It has been over three hundred years. The details of our family are known to everyone in the commandery, and even the Xiongnu over in Xihe Commandery know of our family's affairs — yet not once have they come seeking revenge..."

Gongsun Xun nodded repeatedly: "That Sir Zhang could rise to Military Section Clerk of a commandery suggests your Zhang clan still has considerable roots here in Yanmen after all these years."

"It is all thanks to our ancestors' toil through thorns and brambles that we descendants can sit back and enjoy the fruits."

"Then may I ask, Sir Zhang, are there any outstanding young men in your clan these days?" Gongsun Xun continued to suppress his excitement with effort, asking with a feigned casual air.

"We are border commandery folk; we only know how to brandish blades and staves. Even if there are a few unpromising boys, how could they compare to Major Gongsun's excellence in both civil and martial pursuits?" Military Clerk Zhang's sigh this time seemed especially sincere. "I truly dare not call any of them outstanding..."

"I have heard of one called Zhang Liao," Gongsun Xun finally could not hold back. "A man who can stand against ten thousand!"

"Who told Major Gongsun such a thing?" Military Clerk Zhang asked, stunned.

"A few days ago, while hunting on Mount Baideng, some local worthy mentioned it in passing — I've forgotten who. Does such a man truly exist in Sir Zhang's clan?" Gongsun Xun was growing more impatient by the moment.

"He does exist — he is a younger clan brother of mine from a distant branch." Military Clerk Zhang's expression suddenly turned serious. "However, Major Gongsun would do well to first sever all ties with that local worthy, or else it will be difficult for you to befriend this clan brother of mine."

"Why is that?"

"That clan brother of mine, Zhang Liao, though sturdily built from infancy, is only eight years old this year. When I saw him in the village last year, he was pouring hot water on an anthill, which so enraged his elder brother Zhang Fan that he hung him up and beat him! The courage to stand against ten thousand insects he may well possess, but the courage to stand against ten thousand men — absolutely not!"

Gongsun Xun could not help breaking into laughter at this, and Military Clerk Zhang, Lu Fan, and even Han Dang beside them all laughed along... With the wind howling around them, the mood was, for a moment, quite merry indeed.

"Reporting to the Major." Just then, a penal conscript came running over to announce. "The camp tents are pitched. Captain Cheng requests that you retire and rest!"

Gongsun Xun stopped laughing. He saw that this man was sturdily built and powerfully framed — a brave warrior in his own right. Yet, confined to the status of a penal conscript, he wore only a single layer in the great wind, and at that moment sweat was streaming down his forehead, streaking his dusty face... a truly wretched sight. So Gongsun Xun casually unfastened the cloak he had been holding up, tossed it to the man as a windbreak, said a word of thanks for his hard work, and only then rode off to rest.

"When the Grand Ancestor in his youth served as a clerk, he deeply understood the hardships of the common people and the ways of the world. Seeing the realm in turmoil, he sensed that a time would come when he must devote his life to the cause. Therefore, whenever he joined the ranks, from his subordinate generals down to the convict laborers, he emulated Wu Qi's solicitude. Over time, he gradually won their utmost loyalty." — New Book of Yan, Annals of the Martial Emperor, the Grand Ancestor

PS: There is also a new book group, 684558115; those interested may join.

(End of Chapter)