Chapter 137: Abandoning Illusions

Compared to the Inspectors of the former dynasty, the Xin Dynasty's Provincial Governors held far greater status. To cope with bandits springing up everywhere across the realm — a situation the individual commanderies could no longer suppress on their own — Wang Mang ranked Provincial Governors alongside the Three Excellencies, gave them a salary of two thousand shi, and granted them military authority, adding the title Grand General so they could coordinate provincial military affairs and jointly exterminate the rebels.

But Fei Xing, the Governor of Jingzhou, had twice been dismissed from this post and still held stubbornly to his view: "At home, pacify, do not exterminate!"

Years ago, when Fei Xing first arrived at his post, he had seen clearly: Jingzhou and Yangzhou were vast but sparsely populated. Apart from the Front Division, they lacked the acute conflict between people and land that plagued the Central Plains. The great marshes and mountain forests could provide many with food and clothing. What truly scourged the region were the Six Guan policies: the government taxed the mountains and marshes, seizing the people's livelihood. The common folk were hungry and destitute, and so they became bandits.

Though these bandits often numbered in the tens of thousands, they were merely forced together. They presumptuously called themselves Canal Chiefs and Elders, but they had no banner or guiding creed. They merely roamed and plundered for food, still longing to return to their villages and farm when a good harvest year came.

In Fei Xing's thinking, if an amnesty could be proclaimed, persuading the bandits to return to their fields, remitting some taxes, having the government lend them iron plows, oxen, and seed, and properly pacifying the common people to cut off the source of banditry, then the bandits of Jingzhou could be quelled without a fight.

The first time he submitted such a memorial, Wang Mang deemed it nonsense and dismissed him. A few years later, with the situation in Jingzhou utterly ruined, the Emperor could only send Fei Xing back to put out the fire.

Fei Xing held fast to his earlier view. This was why he had long halted his troops at the Han River near Xiangyang and refused to advance south: he was waiting for a general amnesty.

Now the amnesty had finally come, but several major and minor Canal Chiefs of Greenwood were deemed to have participated in the murder of an imperial prince — a crime of monstrous evil — and were excluded from pardon.

But that did not stop Fei Xing from sending trusted aides to verbally alter the Emperor's amnesty decree, sending them into Greenwood Mountain to inform the illiterate Canal Chiefs. Not only did they promise to pardon them, they also indicated that if they were willing to come out of the forest to talk, they could be recruited into government service and given official posts.

In truth, this was merely Fei Xing's stratagem. He simply wanted to lure the Canal Chiefs out and kill them!

As early as the Former Han, the Imperial Counselor Sang Hongyang had proposed sending brave warriors, emulating Zhuan Zhu and Nie Zheng, to assassinate the chieftains of the Xiongnu and the barbarians — striking them dead, reproaching them for their crimes, and then supporting pro-Han leaders. This, he argued, could save the expense of mobilizing a great army.

During the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han, Fu Jiezi personally put this strategy to the test. With a mere dozen men, he beheaded the King of Loulan and hung the head from the northern watchtowers, allowing the Han to gain a kingdom without wasting a single weapon.

These low-cost decapitation operations found even greater favor in the Xin Dynasty. For instance, the late Grand Marshal Yan You once lured Zhu Meng, the Marquis of Goguryeo, and beheaded him, sending the head to Chang'an. This threw the small kingdom of Goguryeo into civil strife, forcing it to submit to Wang Mang.

Of course, there were times when the plan backfired. Around the same period, the Grand Governor of Zangge in the southwest also lured the King of Gouding into his territory and killed him. The result was that the entire kingdom of Gouding rose up, bent on bloody vengeance. The Xin Dynasty launched three punitive expeditions against Gouding, spending vast sums and losing countless troops, yet still failed to conquer it. The entire southwestern barbarian region descended into chaos.

Despite this cautionary tale, Fei Xing believed that the reason Greenwood had become the most powerful of all the bandit groups in Jingzhou was inseparable from its absorption of many desperate fugitives as Canal Chiefs. To pacify and recruit Greenwood, he first had to eliminate them. Once they were gone, the rest, having received amnesty, would naturally scatter like stars.

But Fei Xing waited and waited, and what finally came back to him were the heads of the envoys he had sent!

Now, among the Greenwood Canal Chiefs, quite a few were actually tempted by the terms Fei Xing offered. After all, most came from the lowest rungs of society before taking up arms, and many were short-sighted men who would bite at the slightest bait.

But there were also clever men, such as Ma Wu, who had just returned from the Front Division, and Wang Chang, a man from Yingchuan.

Wang Chang, courtesy name Yanqing, was a native of Wuyang County in Yingchuan Commandery. His family could be considered minor landlords. He was literate, and in his hometown, he was known as a chivalrous man who valued righteousness. After avenging his younger brother, he fled to Jiangxia, joined the Greenwood Army, and became a minor deputy commander.

Wang Chang was one of the few in Greenwood with broader vision. He knew there was no future in forever holing up in the mountain forests, and he had some plans for what lay ahead. Seeing the Canal Chiefs wavering and about to fall for the trap, he summoned Ma Wu. The two conferred and concluded: "The Emperor changes his orders overnight; this amnesty cannot be trusted."

Ma Wu said: "Even if it is real, the moment we leave the mountain and accept it, our followers will grow homesick and scatter. When the government then turns on us to kill us, we will have no men left to defend ourselves. We will simply stretch out our necks and wait for the slaughter."

Now, with the imperial army pressing down on their borders, this battle had to be fought. To utterly sever any hope the great Canal Chiefs Wang Feng and Wang Kuang might harbor of accepting amnesty, Ma Wu acted decisively and directly had Fei Xing's envoys beheaded!

After that bloody, shocking act, with the envoys' heads on the ground, amnesty was certainly off the table. Wang Chang seized the moment to propose announcing to all their followers: "The envoy sent by the Emperor declared that every last man of Greenwood is to be exterminated. Followers will be beheaded; Canal Chiefs will be burned and torn apart by chariots. None are included in the amnesty!"

After the Greenwood Army abandoned its illusions and prepared to fight, Fei Xing knew that this battle could no longer be avoided.

He had originally planned to exterminate the bandits in the eighth month when they came out to the fringes of Greenwood to harvest grain. But the court pressed him urgently, and Fei Xing was forced to advance his troops at the end of the sixth month.

As one of Wang Mang's trusted confidants in usurping the Han, Fei Xing was passable at offering policy and governing the people, but when it came to leading troops into battle, he was utterly lost. He could only follow the suggestions of his subordinate commandery officers. They first targeted the land the Greenwood bandits farmed themselves, destroying the nearly ripe early millet and rice, hoping to lure them out of the mountains.

Quite a few did indeed feel the sting of losing their harvest and came out in scattered waves, but the rest had grown wise. They stuck close to their Canal Chiefs and stayed put, holed up in the mountains. Fei Xing then tried a wave of setting the mountain ablaze, but in the humid south, fire is not so easily kindled. A single rainstorm extinguished it.

Thus, they could only probe into the mountains to suppress them. Greenwood lay in a no-man's-land between Jiangxia, Nan Commandery, and the Front Division, covering a vast area. Though there were no high peaks, there were many rolling ridges. Coupled with the dense forests, the government troops' chariots and horses could barely move, and their massive forces were carved into scattered, isolated fragments by the terrain.

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Greenwood, however, knew the local roads intimately. Using the terrain to maneuver nimbly against the government forces, they ensured that Fei Xing's subordinates achieved nothing. Sometimes, after trekking for days following defectors, they would reach a Greenwood lair only to find it long abandoned. On the return journey, they would then be ambushed.

In the branches, beside the boulders, within the thickets — the Greenwood Army, true to its name, seemed to merge with its surroundings, omnipresent. Lacking good armor and weapons, they fought with fishing nets, pitchforks, dung rakes, stones, and wooden clubs. Yet they routed the government troops, sending them fleeing in utter disarray, discarding armor and weapons.

In ten days, Fei Xing's forces had already lost two thousand men. With torrential rain falling and the troops' morale at rock bottom, Fei Xing saw that a swift victory was impossible. He planned to pull his forces out of the mountain forests, withdraw toward the walled towns, rest and regroup, and resume the fight in autumn or winter.

But Ma Wu, who delighted in stripping enemy uniforms to impersonate government troops, seized the opportunity. He infiltrated his men among them, and as the retreating government forces stretched into a long, strung-out column, he suddenly struck, cutting them cleanly in two!

The other Greenwood Canal Chiefs — Wang Feng, Wang Kuang, Wang Chang, as well as Zhang Ang, Cheng Dan, Zhu Wei, and others — seized the moment to charge out from the mountain forests with their troops and grapple with the government forces.

In terms of numbers, the "Rapid Response" troops under Fei Xing numbered as many as twenty thousand, several times the size of Greenwood. In terms of equipment, they wore armor and wielded weapons from the state armories. But their morale was entirely different. Many of the government troops were able-bodied men forcibly conscripted from commanderies like the Front Division. Though they had trained for months, aside from many dying in the process, their discipline and combat effectiveness had not improved. When ambushed, they did not fight to the death but fled in panic.

The Greenwood Army, on the other hand, believing this government force had come to annihilate them, fought with desperate effort. The result: a mere few thousand routed twenty thousand, sending them fleeing like rats. The Governor of Jingzhou, Fei Xing, escorted only by his personal guard, fled north in his chariot. Ma Wu intercepted him. The dark-faced, ugly Canal Chief hooked the mudguard of Fei Xing's war chariot with his long halberd and stabbed his escort rider to death.

Ma Wu was about to strike at Fei Xing, who was clearly a high official, when the great Canal Chief Wang Kuang sent a man to relay an order, shouting: "Do not harm the Governor of Jingzhou!"

In the moment Ma Wu hesitated, Fei Xing's personal guard, fighting with short weapons, beat back the Greenwood men. Fei Xing himself seized the whip, lashed it furiously, and his chariot burst through the encirclement at a wild gallop.

The trees and brush behind him seemed to become Greenwood soldiers too, swaying in the wind like warriors brandishing blades. The government troops were utterly swallowed by a vast, churning sea.

When their remnants reached the Han River and counted heads, they had lost several thousand — dead, fled, or even having surrendered on the spot and joined the Greenwood Army. As for supplies, armor, and weapons, nearly all had been captured by Greenwood.

"His Majesty entrusted me with a heavy responsibility, and I have been defeated by bandits. I have no face to see the Son of Heaven!"

So saying, Fei Xing moved to throw himself into the Han River to drown. His personal guard, fighting with short weapons, rescued him. He could only gather his remaining forces and retreat west to Nan Commandery.

He now worried about one thing alone: "Jingzhou's military strength is hollow. If Greenwood seizes this chance to attack cities and seize territory, I fear more than half of Jiangxia Commandery will be lost!"

Just as Governor Fei Xing of Jingzhou had predicted, after their great victory, the Greenwood Army did indeed begin striking out in all directions.

The great Canal Chiefs Wang Feng and Wang Kuang made a direct push for their old home, Yundu County (modern-day Jingshan, Hubei). They also dispatched their deputies Zhang Ang, Cheng Dan, and Zhu Wei, each leading his own force, to attack Anlu County (modern-day Yunmeng, Hubei), southeast of Greenwood.

As for the outsiders who did not quite fit in with these local Canal Chiefs — Wang Chang and Ma Wu — they were sent to guard the Han River and watch for the government troops' return.

The main purpose of these three prongs was not to expand their gains or open new base areas, but for an exceedingly simple reason: the land around Greenwood Mountain had been destroyed by the government troops. There was no food left. They had to leave the mountain to search for grain.

Every Canal Chief declared that they would not touch the poor common folk but would target the county granaries. Whether others followed through is unknown, but Wang Chang and Ma Wu certainly did. Over ten thousand remnants of the government army were stationed in Ruo County in Nan Commandery. In the forest, they could not defeat Greenwood, but in a pitched battle to storm a city, Greenwood was no match for them either.

So they avoided the tough bone and followed the Han River into the undefended heartland of Jiangxia. The two fought their way through, capturing rural townships. But these places had already been scraped clean by government troops. The township granaries held only meager remnants of grain. Even the powerful local clans looked impoverished and yielded little plunder. They could only continue south, fighting all the way to Jingling County (modern-day Qianjiang, Hubei).

The County Magistrate of Jingling, hearing that Greenwood had arrived, had already abandoned the city and fled. Years ago, when Ma Wu had fled after taking vengeance and turned bandit, he had spent time nearby and was somewhat known. Leading two thousand men, they took the county seat without much effort.

Once inside the city, Ma Wu ordered his men to secure the granary and armory, preparing to haul everything away and withdraw. But Wang Chang stopped him.

"Why must we return to Greenwood? Why not make something of ourselves right here?"

Wang Chang, after all, came from a minor landlord background. His plans for the future were far clearer than those of the great Canal Chiefs, who only knew to grab enough to eat until the next month. He spoke quietly to Ma Wu: "We have now routed the government army. Our fame will spread far and wide. Heroes from near and far will surely race to join us."

In the Cloud Dream Marsh south of Jingling, there were two factions: Zhang Ba of Nan Commandery and Yang Mu of Jiangxia. They claimed to have ten thousand men, but in truth, those who could fight numbered no more than a thousand. If they could hold Jingling, draw those two in, and recruit some locals, Greenwood's strength would surely swell.

"To the north, we lean on Greenwood Mountain. To the south, we have the advantage of the great Cloud Dream Marsh. To the west, the Han River blocks the government troops. To the east, we can strike out at Anlu County, attack cities, seize territory on a grand scale, and take Xiling, the commandery seat of Jiangxia!"

In this way, half of Jiangxia would fall into their hands. With this rich land and a population of over a hundred thousand as their foundation, many more options would open up in the future: west to attack Jiangling in Nan Commandery, north to return to their homelands of Nanyang and Yingchuan. Great things could be expected!

Ma Wu gladly agreed. He and Wang Chang hit it off immediately. The two ordered their men not to abuse the people. Wang Chang even arranged meetings with several local powerful figures, speaking kindly to them, hoping to cooperate.

But they never imagined that at the start of the seventh month, the retreating government troops, reinforced by Zhen Fu, the Grand Governor of the Front Division, would counterattack with stunning speed. The Xin army advanced along the Han River to retake Jingling County. Wang Chang and Ma Wu had planned to fight the government troops again and hold this crucial base. Who could have guessed that the messengers they sent to Yundu and Anlu to request reinforcements from the other Canal Chiefs would return with two pieces of news.

One was the reply from Wang Feng and Wang Kuang, saying they wanted no other territory — even if they took it, they couldn't hold it — their home county of Yundu alone was enough. Over ten thousand kinsmen from Yundu had already cheerfully decided to join Greenwood.

The second matter chilled Wang Chang and Ma Wu even more. The canal commander Zhang Ang and his men, who had gone to attack Anlu County, had met with slight resistance there. In a rage, they let several thousand followers slaughter the city, plundering Anlu for three days. The Greenwood Army killed nearly every official and man in Anlu, seized several thousand women, and, along with the grain and cloth they looted, swaggered back to Greenwood Mountain in triumph.

With that, they were completely isolated, with no help in sight.

Wang Chang and Ma Wu had only a little over two thousand men. Once they lost the advantage of terrain, they could not withstand tens of thousands of government troops. And the local strongmen, seeing that the Greenwood bandits were hardly any better than the government forces, began gathering their own private armed followers to attack them. The two men had no choice but to retreat in haste.

Wang Chang's grand plan to take all of Jiangxia had thus snapped its spear. When they returned to Greenwood Mountain in Yundu, they found the great and small canal commanders living in the county offices and the strongmen's mansions, fighting tooth and nail over the best houses. They wore gaudy silks and satins, drank themselves into a stupor, and clutched the strongmen's women they had seized to make their camp wives, utterly content with this life.

He and Ma Wu, on the other hand, because their ambitions were far greater, had restrained their troops on this southern expedition and then retreated in such a rush that they had gained almost nothing. Instead, they were mocked by those men: "Canal Commander Wang, Canal Commander Ma, you traveled all the way to Jingling — we thought you'd bring back a huge haul, and yet you return empty-handed?"

Their own men didn't understand either. Some even secretly switched allegiances that very day, running off to other hills to join Zhang Ang and his lot, hoping to be allotted a few bolts of patterned cloth and a wife — or even to share one among several men…

Seeing this state of affairs, Ma Wu and Wang Chang were filled with indignation and despair. They could only look at each other in silence, and at last mutter a curse under their breath: "Worthless brats — not worth plotting with!"

A few days later, word of the Anlu County massacre reached Chongling, at the northern foot of Greenwood. It made the Liu Xiu brothers abandon their unrealistic, rosy illusions about the Greenwood heroes.

Liu Xiu sighed and said, "Bandits — they're just bandits!"

……

PS: Chapter 3 at 18:00.