Chapter 145: Deception

Because the Zhang River had not yet shifted its course in Han times, Yecheng lay several li south of the river.

Outside the city, the twelve canals dug by Ximen Bao were bordered by unbroken tracts of farmland, like a sea of a single color. The seat of Wei Commandery sat among them, rectangular in shape, with a main thoroughfare running through the city connecting the east and west gates and dividing the whole city into northern and southern halves.

North of the thoroughfare were the government offices, the commandery headquarters, the granary, the armory, and the stables. South of it lay the wards and neighborhoods, where scattered dwellings huddled tightly together. Outside the east gate was the marketplace, and the post station for receiving guests was also located there. The man managing the small station was none other than Ma Yuan's old hometown friend from Guanzhong, Yan Chun — the man already designated internally as "General Who Upholds Han" — who also took the opportunity to recruit bold men from all over.

On the eleventh day of the eighth month, a party of traveling merchants arrived from the south. Their leader, dressed all in white, went straight to the post station and asked to see the Grand Governor of the commandery, Li Yan.

Yan Chun was displeased. "Who do you people think you are? Lord Li is busy with commandery affairs — is he someone just anyone can see?"

The white-clad young man spoke in authentic Dong Commandery dialect: "I won't hide it from you. We are in disguise, traveling in haste. I am a clan nephew of Lord Wang, Grand Governor of Zhiting. On my clan uncle's orders, I have something to show Lord Li."

Yan Chun was taken aback. "What business does a nephew of a neighboring commandery's Grand Governor have here?"

"A matter of life and death, involving countless lives…" Diwu Lun had his men open the carriage to reveal what lay inside: unmistakably, an imperial envoy's staff of authority!

Yan Chun recognized the object — he had often seen the Five Majestic Generals carrying them when they passed through — and was instantly alarmed. "May I ask how I should address you?"

Diwu Lun cupped his hands. "Wang Lun!"

…

The Xin Dynasty envoy's staff followed Han practice exactly: bamboo was the main material, the shaft eight chi long, with three layers of yak-tail tassels and yellow fringe added.

And there was that edict Wang Mang had issued to Wang Hong, Grand Governor of Zhiting, ordering him to raise troops, seize, and execute Li Yan! The Emperor's seal was stamped squarely upon it. Li Yan turned it over and over, examining it several times — it absolutely could not be a forgery.

As for the other edict, appointing the Guanglu Grandee Diwu Lun as Acting Grand Governor of Weicheng — naturally, he had not been foolish enough to bring that along on his person.

The evidence was irrefutable: Li Yan's intent to rebel against the Xin and restore the Han had long been known to the court. The court had sent word to the regions to suppress him — to the north, the army of the Inspector of Ji Province; to the south, the troops of Zhiting Commandery. The destruction of Weicheng was imminent!

This made Li Yan, who had already steeled his resolve, lose focus for a moment. The edict slipped from his hand and fell without his noticing.

Diwu Lun had no chance to step forward and pick it up for him, because Li Yan's trusted men kept a very close watch on him. When he entered, he had been searched and forbidden to carry any sharp object — even the hairpin on his head had been pulled out.

That fellow Ma Yuan, in particular — because he had only just joined, he too could not easily get close to Li Yan's side. Yet, like a dog relying on its master's power, during the search he ran his hands all over Diwu Lun's body!

So what if he was handsome? So what if he had a beautiful daughter?

When the two men were close, they exchanged no small number of glances. Diwu Lun glared at Ma Yuan with fury; Ma Yuan returned the look with a savage grin.

After a long silence, Li Yan finally raised his head and said, "Wang Lun, since the Grand Governor of Zhiting is of the imperial clan and has received the Son of Heaven's edict, he need only carry out his orders. Why did he place the envoy under house arrest and send you to inform me?"

Diwu Lun sighed. "May I ask Lord Li, toward whom is the Son of Heaven most harsh?"

Li Yan answered without hesitation. "Toward the Wang clan, most harsh."

"Exactly — toward us, the imperial Wang clan!" Diwu Lun smiled bitterly. "The Emperor's four sons are all dead — four deaths in a single month. And Lord Wang's elder brother, the Marquis of Ping'a, was also executed. Lord Wang originally rendered great service to the Emperor, yet he was only enfeoffed as a marquis and sent out to Zhiting as Grand Governor, where he has toiled for over ten years."

"Whenever news of a Wang clan death arrives from court, my uncle gazes west and weeps, terrified, not knowing when he will follow in their footsteps. He keeps poison always at hand, ready to die and preserve his dignity should things turn dire!"

At this, recalling how Wang Hong had truly been so frightened that he took poison and then had to swallow excrement to induce vomiting, Diwu Lun actually shed tears. Every word of this was true — he was not making anything up.

"Nor will I hide this from Lord Li: though my uncle is of the imperial clan, he has never approved of the Emperor's usurpation of the Han. When Lord Li sent men to Dong Commandery to spread prophetic texts, my uncle saw it but did not expose it. Instead, he hoped that one day Lord Li would rise up so that he could answer the call. He never expected that the court's hawks and hounds would discover it first and send an envoy to make Zhiting and Weicheng, neighbors, destroy each other."

Diwu Lun ground his teeth. "The Emperor is merely using Guo as a pretext to conquer Yu. When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. If Lord Li is destroyed today, will it not be Zhiting's turn tomorrow?"

"So my uncle placed the envoy under house arrest, stole his staff of authority, took his edict, and sent me at once to deliver them and inform Lord Li of this urgency. He also wishes to form a secret alliance with Lord Li."

"Zhiting's troops have already reached Liyang County at Baima Ford, but they are only feigning an attack. My uncle hopes only that Lord Li will immediately raise his troops to block the Inspector of Ji Province's army advancing south. Zhiting is willing to serve as your rear guard. When the time comes, we will coordinate from within and without and strike the Inspector of Ji Province together."

Li Yan sank into deep thought. After having this "Wang Lun" escorted away, it was not long before he indeed received word that the Zhiting troops had crossed Baima Ford and advanced as far as Neihuang County — but had stopped there.

Li Yan liked to make plans and then carry them out step by step. Now that everything had been thrown into chaos, he was utterly at a loss. He summoned only his chief strategist, Wang Kuang, and asked him in a mournful voice, "Master, what is to be done?"

Wang Kuang, among the prophetic texts that foretold the loyalty and treachery of Wang Mang's ministers, turned up the entry concerning Wang Hong. This man had indeed been judged by them as someone who could be won over — but only after the uprising had begun. They had never expected that it would instead be Wang Hong who sent them word and saved their lives.

As things stood, the exposure of their rebellion was beyond doubt. They had to act immediately, or else stretch out their necks and await the slaughter. And the goodwill from Zhiting became a branch they had to cling to in the flood, lest they be attacked from both front and rear. Wang Kuang advised that they should immediately send a trusted aide to travel south with "Wang Lun" and express Weicheng Commandery's willingness to form an alliance.

At that moment, Li Yan suddenly thought of something and asked Wang Kuang, who had been observing from behind the curtain the entire time, "Master, what do you make of that Wang Lun's physiognomy?"

"Not good."

Wang Kuang declared with certainty, "That man's face is full of the lines of hidden virtue, but his nature brings misfortune to his masters. Wang Hong's prospects are likely grim from here on!"

…

The Zhiting commandery troops, after all, numbered three thousand men — the commotion was considerable, and passersby were not blind. The news of the river crossing could not be concealed.

They advanced to Neihuang and halted, as Diwu Lun had instructed, waiting for Diwu Lun to "capture the ringleader." The Zhiting subordinate magistrate even praised Diwu Lun, saying he truly possessed great courage.

But when Diwu Lun returned, he did not carry Li Yan's head. He had only brought back a trusted aide sent by Grand Governor Li, whom he ordered bound and thoroughly interrogated.

The men gathered around and asked what had happened. Diwu Lun merely sighed and said, "I entered Yecheng and observed the rebels' true situation. I found that Li Yan is extremely cautious. He appears to humbly welcome men of talent, but in truth he secretly guards against them and keeps them at a distance. So, the plan has changed."

It was rather embarrassing to admit. Diwu Lun had originally intended, while pointing out the edict to Li Yan, to follow the stratagem of "the dagger revealed when the map is unrolled." Though he himself had no weapon, Ma Yuan did. The father-in-law and son-in-law would strike together and seize Li Yan — and Yecheng would be theirs.

But he had not expected Li Yan to be so timid. Not only was Diwu Lun kept several paces away, but Ma Yuan also could not get close. That plan was therefore abandoned.

With one stratagem having failed, Diwu Lun immediately extracted himself and, at the same time, cheerfully decided that a matter as simple as seizing and executing Li Yan might as well be left to Ma Yuan.

"Then what of us?" the Zhiting subordinate magistrate asked, stunned.

"We encamp at Neihuang and wait for Yecheng to fall into chaos on its own. If the enemy does not move, we do not move."

Diwu Lun considered that his trip into the city had not been a case of alerting the snake, but rather of throwing the enemy into disarray.

For an ordinary person, if the planned wedding date were suddenly moved up by over a year, could you remain calm and carry on as if everything were normal? On the wedding day itself, there would surely be frantic scrambling and endless mishaps — perhaps even the two families quarreling so fiercely that the marriage would be called off entirely.

Rebellion is a far greater affair than weddings and funerals. If it fails, heads will roll. Li Yan and his men had not yet completed many of their preparations. Forced to act in haste, they were bound to descend into even greater chaos.

In this process, as mud and sand are churned up together in the water, those who hesitate and waver will rise to the surface. Some will be utterly bewildered, some will flee under cover of night, and some may even turn their blades around to exonerate themselves. Ma Yuan could make full use of them. Diwu Lun trusted that the father-in-law and son-in-law still shared that much tacit understanding.

And those determined to follow Li Yan would sink, making it convenient for Diwu Lun to round them all up afterward. As the new Grand Governor, he needed to cultivate his own faction; he had no need for the diehard loyalists of the previous Grand Governor.

Diwu Lun also had Zhang Yu and others spread word around Yecheng that Li Yan was about to rebel. This would intensify the chaos in Yecheng — the powerful local families were not of one mind with the commandery governor.

Seeing the Zhiting subordinate magistrate's eyes full of doubt, Diwu Lun was brimming with confidence.

"Rest assured."

"I am a man of a hundred stratagems!"

…

Indeed, just as Diwu Lun had said, his arrival had thoroughly thrown Li Yan's little rebel cabal into chaos.

Although many intelligent men felt that the Great Xin was indeed doomed and were willing to plot a new path with Li Yan, no one could predict how long the court could hold out. That was why they had set the uprising date for the fourth year of Dihuang — to delay and observe.

But now it was only the eighth month of the second year — far too early. However weak the court's control over the provinces and commanderies had become, striking Weicheng would still be like smashing an egg with a rock. Moreover, the plan to rebel against the Xin and restore the Han had been plotted only among a few dozen people, with Li Yan and Wang Kuang at the core. The many subordinate officials in the commandery, the powerful local magnates, and even the officers and men of the commandery troops were all unaware. To persuade them one by one to join? How could that be easy?

Even some of Li Yan's former trusted confidants began to waver — Yan Chun was one of them. He had the nerve to rebel later, but that didn't mean he'd rebel right now!

So when Li Yan summoned his confidants to seek their counsel, Yan Chun and others hesitated and stammered. Instead, it was Ma Yuan, seated toward the back, who rose and said with a solemn face: "As the saying goes, a man dies for the one who knows his worth. Lord Li has nurtured men of talent for a thousand days — is it not precisely for this one moment of need?"

He bowed to Li Yan. "Though Ma Yuan has not been long in Lord Li's staff, I have traveled the realm for many years. I know this Xin is like a great hall riddled with worms and rot — it cannot hold much longer. In the south, the Greenwood have routed the government troops. In the east, the bandits of Mount Tai, Qingzhou, and Xuzhou span commanderies and provinces. The imperial forces cannot subdue them. The common people are in misery, hating the officials as they hated Jie and Zhou."

Ma Yuan was not lying — this was indeed the shape of the realm as he had seen it in recent years. Men like Li Yan, frontier officials secretly plotting against the Xin, would only grow more numerous. Everyone was scrambling to jump ship.

But which ship to board after jumping — that was the art of it. The rebellion of men like Li Yan was far too childish and laughable, doomed to fail.

"Now that the affair is exposed and the court is about to send troops to strike, it is as Chen She and Wu Guang said: to flee is death, to rise up in great deeds is also death — then let us die for the realm, shall we? Ma Yuan has only just been pardoned and absolved. I do not wish to flee into exile again, not knowing where to go. If Lord Li gives the word, Ma Yuan is willing to rally the daring braves and gallant youths of the city and lay down his life for Lord Li!"

Ma Yuan's speech was deeply rousing. Li Yan was overjoyed. Never mind that Ma Yuan had only just joined and had been deliberately denied any authority before — Li Yan immediately appointed him "Grand General Who Restores the Han." With the addition of that "Grand" title, his seat was raised to the front ranks. When the time came to rise up, Ma Yuan would not only rally the city's gallant youths but also command a force of his own in battle.

At that moment, Wang Kuang also stepped forward at the right time, declaring that he had already gone to the Shrine of Ximen Bao to divine the omens — raising troops ahead of schedule was also greatly auspicious!

"On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, we shall hold the commandery troops' annual review ahead of time. On that day, following the example of Zhai Yi, we shall muster all the chariots, cavalry, and trained soldiers of the commandery, and rise against the Xin to restore the Han!"

Yet neither bold oaths of warriors nor divined reassurances could ease the unease in everyone's hearts. At best, Li Yan's meeting this time could only keep his guests and confidants from scattering like birds and beasts. Behind his back, each of them was already making their own plans.

Li Yan urgently needed a banner that could rally even the common folk to the cause of opposing the Xin. Once the others had withdrawn, Li Yan, burning with impatience, pressed Wang Kuang for answers.

"Master, hasn't Liu Ziyu, son of Emperor Cheng, already reached Hebei? Why has he still not arrived at Yecheng?"

But Li Yan was mistaken. "Liu Ziyu" had not "already reached Hebei" at all — in the twenty-odd years of his life, he had never once set foot outside Hebei!

At that very moment, Wang Lang was traveling along the main road from Handan to Wei Commandery, riding a black donkey and surrounded by a cluster of foolish men and women he had duped. He appeared to have his eyes closed in serene detachment, but in his heart he was silently reciting the words his father had taught him.

"I am Liu Ziyu, twenty-nine years of age. My mother was a palace maid of the Great Han's Emperor Xiaocheng. After being favored by Emperor Xiaocheng, she descended from the hall and lay stiff upon the ground. Presently, a yellow vapor descended from above and entered her body. It did not dissipate for half a day, and soon she was with child. She went to the maternity quarters to give birth."

"The demon women, Empress Zhao Feiyan and her sister Hede, sought to harm my mother. It was only thanks to a loyal old clerk of the Lateral Courts, who emulated the story of the Zhao Orphan by secretly substituting another's child to die in my place, that I was preserved."

"I was smuggled out of the palace and raised in secret. At twelve, I met the diviner Li Manqing, a Gentleman of the Palace, and followed him to the Shu region. At seventeen, the Han house was usurped by the traitor Wang Mang, and I went to Danyang. At twenty, I returned to Chang'an. Because I had studied the art of observing qi under my master, I discovered that there was the aura of a Son of Heaven in Hebei. Thus I journeyed through Zhongshan, coming and going between Yan and Zhao, awaiting the time appointed by Heaven."

One line of truth to start, and everything else spun from whole cloth. Wang Lang was in fact simply Wang Kuang's son, with not the slightest connection to Emperor Cheng of Han.

This father-and-son pair of diviners, seeing the world growing restless and the people's hearts turning toward the Han, and with the rumors of Liu Ziyu known to all, grew bold enough to play this game — to have Wang Lang transform overnight into an emperor of the Han. For Wang Kuang had studied his son's face from every angle and concluded that he had the countenance of an emperor.

Men of learning indeed — this fraud, from Wang Lang's identity to his life story, was far more meticulously crafted than the one concocted by that northwestern bumpkin Lu Fang. Even Li Yan believed it completely.

By now, Wang Kuang had already won Li Yan's trust. The plan to oppose the Xin and restore the Han was being implemented step by step. All that remained was for Wang Lang to appear at the right moment and become Li Yan's banner. They would wait only until the realm fell into greater chaos the following year to rise up and seize all of Hebei in one stroke!

But on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just as he reached the banks of the Zhang River, Wang Lang was forced to halt. A troop of riders was heading south from Fuchang Commandery (Guangping Commandery), hurrying toward Yecheng. Their fine horses trampled the road, and the riders were fully armed — it frightened Wang Lang.

Leading them was none other than Geng Chun, who, under Diwu Lun's orders, had gone to Julu to request troops from the Inspector of Ji Province!

Geng Chun was also burning with urgency. "The Inspector of Ji Province is far too slow in mobilizing troops. I can only take my household retinue and head south first."

"I only hope I can make it in time to aid Boyu!"

PS: The final chapter of 2020. After living through this year, reading the "Biography of Wang Mang" in the past felt like nothing but a joke — now, rereading it stirs quite different feelings. So in the first half of this book, I hope to capture a touch of that "magical realism" flavor.

Next year... no, tomorrow, I'll continue with extra updates. Reserving guaranteed monthly tickets in advance.

The sun is nearly setting where I am. How about you?