Chapter 101: Opening with Nothing but a Mouth

After the County Magistrate of Sanshui County in Anding Commandery received word from the commandery, he still tried to send men to trick Lu Fang into leaving his stronghold in Left Valley (Weizhou Town, Tongxin County), luring him to the county seat to capture him in one fell swoop.

But from the County Magistrate's self-styled clever scheme to the two hundred county soldiers lying in ambush outside Left Valley — Lu Fang discovered them all.

Lu Fang had been gathering followers for several years and had three or four hundred subordinate retainers, so he seized the moment, led them charging out of Left Valley, and caught the County Commandant completely off guard. The county soldiers retreated in disarray, were pursued and cut down all the way by Qiang and Hu riders, and left over a hundred corpses behind — even the County Commandant himself was slain by Lu Fang's own hand.

"The Xin army is nothing special!"

After this great victory, Lu Fang had the County Commandant's head impaled on a long spear and paraded it in triumphant return, then declared to the Han heroes and Qiang and Hu chieftains in Left Valley who still harbored doubts: "This is the fighting strength of the Xin army — not worth fearing. As long as we are of one heart, the great cause can be achieved!"

The large red cloth from Lu Fang's home was torn down, his wife gave it a rough trim, and with thick ink and heavy strokes they scrawled an ugly character "Han" upon it, hoisted it on a clothes-drying pole — and there was the great banner to restore the Fiery Han!

The Han standard fluttered in Left Valley, hemmed in by the hills; Lu Fang gazed up at it, hot tears brimming in his eyes: he had been lying for so long that even he had come to believe he truly was a descendant of the Great Han.

And Lu Fang's proclamation of righteous uprising was rustic through and through — the classical allusions it cited did not even exist, every line simple and plain enough for the village grannies to understand: "Wang Mang, that treacherous scoundrel, was originally a subject of the Han dynasty, yet he poisoned the little Emperor and usurped the throne — this cannot be borne. My true name is Liu Wenbo, great-grandson of the Filial Martial Emperor; my seniority in the lineage is great, and it is my duty to avenge my juniors and restore the Han ancestral temples."

The knights-errant and retainers Lu Fang had been cultivating immediately roared in response: "Fight our way to Chang'an and seize the throne!"

"Wenbo should be Emperor!"

Lu Fang, however, was still fairly clear-headed — he knew that declaring himself emperor in a single township was not plausible — and waved his hand in refusal, indicating that he would first become a king, and the matter of Emperor could be discussed later.

And so, combining it with his own background, he styled himself "Western Pacification King of the Left Valley Li of the Great Han," and his primary wife became Queen.

Then Lu Fang began conferring offices upon his trusted followers: his elder brother Lu Qin was appointed "Grand General."

There was also a village Confucian of the same county who had failed the Four Categories selection and, after being humiliated by a powerful Anding magnate, had angrily thrown in his lot with Lu Fang — he got his wish and was appointed "Grand Chancellor."

A destitute Hu herdsman who had joined Lu Fang, named Boma Shaobo, was appointed "Grand Marshal."

The township Bailiff, whom Lu Fang had bamboozled into believing he was truly a Han descendant, was appointed "Grand Commandant."

The township Elder was pushed forward and transformed overnight into "Grand Preceptor"; the Field Laborer, who often tilled the fields himself, also became "Grand Minister of Agriculture."

Even a village headman managed to land the post of "Grand Minister of the Village."

Lu Fang was a country magnate who could not even clearly recount the true Han imperial lineage, and naturally he was not familiar with the titles of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers of the court — he simply figured that adding the word "Grand" made it a grand office.

Having finished conferring rewards and titles upon his trusted followers, Lu Fang then dispatched his "Grand Marshal" Boma Shaobo to rush immediately to the various Qiang and Hu tribes of the Anding Dependent State and arrange for them to rise up together.

"My family holds only Left Valley; even if we gather all the able-bodied men of the whole township, they number no more than a few hundred. We must still ally with the Qiang and Hu of the Dependent State to rise together."

Sanshui County had in the past been the seat of the Anding Dependent State; the Qiang and Hu tribes who had surrendered during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han were resettled in these mountain hollows stretching hundreds of li, living a life half farming, half herding, divided under several Marquis Who Have Returned to Righteousness. Originally they only needed to provide military service in lieu of taxes when the court called for troops, and there were no land taxes or the like.

That was until Wang Mang took power and began overhauling the institutions of the former dynasty — first abolishing the titles of the Qiang and Hu Marquis Who Have Returned to Righteousness, then dissolving the Anding Dependent State, and demanding that the Qiang and Hu also pay taxes and perform corvée labor according to the registered household system.

It sounded perfectly reasonable on the surface, but the problem was that many Qiang and Hu did not even farm the land, only herding sheep in the mountains — what were they supposed to use to pay the grain land tax? Under the harsh exactions of petty officials, their lives became unlivable, and together with destitute Han people they fled into the mountains and forests to become outlaws. In the Anding Dependent State, class contradictions clearly outweighed ethnic contradictions.

Discontent with the Xin Dynasty grew by the day in Sanshui County, and this was precisely why Lu Fang, relying on a fake Han identity, could gather a following and win hearts.

"I must do everything contrary to Wang Mang in order to succeed," Lu Fang calculated thus. He was exceedingly generous, granting marquis titles to every small Qiang and Hu tribe in the county with more than fifty people, hoping they would bring their tribal followers to join him and together besiege the county seat.

But it was still not enough. Lu Fang thought to himself: "Even if we rally the Qiang and Hu tribes and take Sanshui County, the Grand Governor of Anding Commandery to the south and the General Who Swallows the Hu to the north will surely send large armies to suppress me soon after. I still need outside aid."

So he sent his elder brother Lu Qin on a long journey.

"Find a way to go beyond the frontier and locate the Xiongnu Prince Goulun. Tell him that the Western Pacification King of the Great Han wishes to form a marriage alliance with him! And earnestly entreat the Chanyu to send troops south to assist me. Once the deed is done, my Great Han is willing to cede territory, declare vassalage, and pay tribute to the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu!"

While Lu Fang was hoisting the red cloth to restore the Fiery Han in Left Valley, the Fifth Battalion had already advanced southward and, together with Liangqiu Ci, reached White Earth Ridge.

The place was true to its name — the earthen ridges along the riverbank gleamed white, and in the valley stood several dozen plank houses. But when the Xin troops groped their way in, they found not a single living soul, not even a goat.

"Why is there not a single bandit?"

Liangqiu Ci was full of misgivings; he was utterly uneasy about this campaign, convinced that what he had to deal with was surely a vicious and monstrous bandit chieftain — after all, Ru Chen and Dong Xi had been killed one after another, and he had no wish to follow in their footsteps.

So Liangqiu Ci was extremely cautious, marching only twenty li a day before making camp, his personal guard surrounding his tent so tightly that not a drop of water could seep through.

His worries were entirely superfluous. Although Liangqiu Ci was also on Diwu Lun's list, the man could at least be reasoned with and greatly admired Diwu Lun — he had utility value and could not die just yet; that slash mark in the little death notebook had still not been drawn.

And so over two thousand men advanced at a tortoise's crawl after leaving Tewu, taking three days just to reach White Earth Ridge. Even if Ma Yuan had not long since received Diwu Lun's notice and moved deep into the mountains, even real bandits would have had ample time to flee without a trace.

A Company Commander whispered to Liangqiu Ci: "Colonel, we've drawn a blank now — there's not even a single refugee hiding in the mountains to be seen. This makes it hard to slaughter civilians and claim credit for enemy dead."

"Who says there aren't any!"

Liangqiu Ci did not stoop so low as to directly massacre the surplus conscripts in the army; he merely ordered the plank houses of White Earth Ridge set ablaze, then reported back: "A great victory! Bandit captives perished in the flames beyond counting!"

Though no heads had been taken, could the soldiers' toil and this victory be denied? They could not!

Diwu Lun laughed inwardly and simply reported: "Colonel, those wretches must have heard of the great army's advance and fled south to join Lu Fang!"

Indeed, having reached this point, the mission of the General Who Swallows the Hu was only half complete — they still had to continue along the Bitter River and proceed to Sanshui County to coordinate with the Anding commandery troops in exterminating the rebel Lu Fang.

The road ahead to Left Valley was narrow, climbing up and down the loess hills, and it was easy to lose one's way — a guide was needed. Diwu Lun actually found one: a herdsman tanned pitch-black by the sun, whom he brought before Liangqiu Ci.

Liangqiu Ci looked down loftily and glanced at the man: "What is your name?"

Dressed in short workman's garb with his arms bared, Wan Xiu bowed his head and said: "This humble one is called Ren Xia."

He had been in the area for nearly two years and spoke the local dialect fluently. He claimed to be a poor herdsman along the Bitter River who had once been captured by bandits, later escaped to Tewu County, and upon hearing that Major Diwu Lun was recruiting guides, had joined the army.

"I hear you have seen the bandit chief. What does he look like?"

"His face is covered in pockmarks, hideously ugly." Wan Xiu recalled Ma Yuan's handsome features and said through gritted teeth: "Vicious and venomous at heart — he even forcibly took this humble one's wife and daughter!"

"No wonder they call him Pockmark Bandit!"

Liangqiu Ci understood. Once the battle was over, even if they could not capture that Pockmark Chieftain, they could follow Wan Xiu's description and forge a head to present.

If the Pockmark Chieftain later caused trouble again, he would have an excuse: "Bandits often reuse the same name, one succeeding another — this Pockmark Chieftain is not that Pockmark Chieftain!"

With Wan Xiu guiding the way, the main force continued onward, following the Bitter River into the territory of Sanshui County.

The reason Sanshui County was called Sanshui — "Three Waters" — was that the county contained Luo Stream Valley, where three springs flowed side by side. But apart from the slightly flat land along the three riverbanks, the rest was all loess hills. Liangqiu Ci remained cautious to the extreme, marching only twenty li a day, his scouting riders sent out far ahead.

"This subordinate is willing to serve as the vanguard!" Diwu Lun volunteered, which rather surprised Liangqiu Ci: "Is Boyu not usually unwilling to take the lead?"

"If I don't disperse the common folk along the route first, won't they just become ghosts under your blades for nothing?" Diwu Lun thought to himself. Drawing on the lesson of the last march, he said aloud only that he was grieved by the loss of his two colleagues and was determined to be at the front to hunt down the bandits and avenge them.

And the Company Commanders under Liangqiu Ci were perfectly happy to have Diwu Lun take the arrows in front — if they encountered bandit raids, the losses would all be the Fifth Battalion's; when it came time to chop off bandit heads, they could just shove the surplus conscripts aside and do it themselves.

Diwu Lun and Wan Xiu, however, knew full well that Ma Yuan was already over a hundred li to the north and would certainly not come. The only thing to worry about was whether Lu Fang in Left Valley, Sanshui, would send mounted troops to ambush them in the hills.

But as the terrain gradually opened up, this worry too gradually faded. Occasionally they glimpsed dark shapes at the edge of the horizon, and upon drawing near discovered they were beacon towers, likely left behind from the northward advance during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han — some still had scattered shards of tile and broken bowls inside.

Seeing that his six hundred combat troops were still in decent spirits and no one had fallen behind, Diwu Lun decided to pick up the pace slightly: "Increase speed — thirty li a day."

On the tenth day of their journey south, Diwu Lun and his party reached North Township in Sanshui County, an open river-valley plain that later ages would call "Hui'an Fort."

North of this place lay the edge of the Gobi Desert; blocked by salt lakes, the desert had not advanced further, and the vegetation was still fairly abundant. Where tamarisk grew thick, all manner of flowers and grasses flourished; in gullies dense with camelthorn, rice sage was especially lush. The local commoners, dressed in rags, were in the gullies pulling camelthorn, digging up licorice root, and cutting sand sage, trying to scrape together something beyond grain to supplement their diet.

Spotting soldiers passing in the distance, they were more terrified than if they had seen bandits. Adults clutched their children and immediately threw themselves flat in the gullies — but how could that escape the notice of government troops? Several riders spurred their horses over. The young officer at their head looked down at them for a few moments, yet gave no order to slaughter; he merely waved them off and shouted, "Get away! The royal army is behind us — do not come near the road for three days!"

As if granted a great pardon, the commoners fled in panic, not daring to look back.

When Diwu Lun's party reached the small settlement of North Township, they found every door tightly shut. The township Bailiff poked his head out from above, trembling with fear.

"Bailiff, do not be afraid — we are government…"

Diwu Lun cut off his subordinate's shouting. No memory for lessons — wouldn't that only frighten them more? Even if you announced yourselves as bandits, it would be better than calling yourselves the royal army.

"We are under orders to march south and suppress rebels, merely passing through your honorable territory. If you send out two hundred shi of grain to feed the main army for three days, I can persuade the General not to lead his troops into the settlement."

"Are they the rebel army from Left Valley Township?"

"Indeed. Have they come to harass your township?"

The Bailiff's face crumpled. "Superior officer, there truly is no grain left. Two days ago, Lu Fang of Left Valley, calling himself a Han celestial soldier, sent men to requisition… to loot the place! And he also said…"

He moves fast. Diwu Lun frowned and asked, "What else did Lu Fang say?"

The Bailiff answered with great caution, "The rebel scum also declared that they are suppressing the officials and bringing peace to the people!"

…

PS: Overslept — Chapter 2 at 13:00.