Chapter 147: A Civil Struggle

On his first night in Yecheng, Diwu Lun had Zang Nu and the others keep a relaxed outward appearance while maintaining tight vigilance within, guarding his residence with airtight security. After all, the image of Li Yan being effortlessly backstabbed by the local magnates still sent chills down his spine.

Diwu Lun had no desire to take a knife like that himself one day, so he planned to write the Ximen clan into the treason list and send it to Chang'an — a permanent solution once and for all.

Diwu Lun did not quietly make the decision on his own; he first consulted Geng Chun. After all, the Geng family were also magnates from Julu in Hebei and understood the local powers better than he did.

As it turned out, the moment Geng Chun heard of this, he immediately objected: "I urge you, Boyu — whatever you do, do not write this in your memorial to the Emperor. Otherwise, the one who ends up suffering may not be the Ximen clan, but you!"

Geng Chun told Diwu Lun something he did not know: "The Ximen clan are descendants of Ximen Bao from the time of Marquis Wen of Wei. They have deep roots here and are well-loved by the common people. Their family is not only the greatest magnate in Weicheng, but they also have someone who can speak up at court."

"Boyu, do you still remember the story I told when we first met at the Lang Bureau?"

The one about the double-yolked egg and the offering of auspicious omens?

Geng Chun nodded: "Indeed. At that time, there was a fangshi named Ximen Junhui who wandered between Yan and Zhao and stayed as a guest at my home. He is a son of a concubine from a branch of the Ximen clan. Now Ximen Junhui has gained the esteem of General of the Guard Wang She, the Duke of Zhidao, who honors him as a teacher. If you move against the Ximen clan, Ximen Junhui can easily appeal to the Emperor through the General of the Guard."

The General of the Guard was one of the Four Generals, and Wang She was also quite trusted by Wang Mang — one of the few Wang family members who had done well. With such a mountain at their back, the Ximen clan truly had no reason to fear any provincial grandee.

Secondly, it was indeed the Ximen clan who sent men to make the first accusation in the Li Yan affair — the Shepherd of Jizhou can attest to that — and they also stopped Li Yan's rebellion on the day of the military inspection. They could even be counted as meritorious officials.

If Diwu Lun relied solely on his own one-sided account to insist that the Ximen clan had followed the rebels, it would be far too forced. Once the matter reached the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties and a lawsuit began, whom would Chen Chong and Kong Ren help? Add in the General of the Guard Wang She putting in a word, and the outcome would be far from certain.

Geng Chun said: "What's more, even if the Emperor permitted you to exterminate the Ximen clan, who would you use to do it? The Ximen clan has connections with princes and marquises, their power surpasses that of officials, and they sway people with profit. Even the commandery troops listen to their family. With their sons, in-laws, and relatives spread throughout the entire commandery, you probably couldn't take them down with fewer than several thousand men."

If local magnates could be wiped out so easily with a single word from a two-thousand-bushel official, then his own Geng clan of Julu, who had bullied commandery officials plenty in the past, would hardly still be alive and well.

Moreover, with the court now in decline and its military strength stretched thin, it was highly unlikely they would send a dedicated army. Diwu Lun had no troops and, apart from Ma Yuan, no generals — he would still have to rely on help from neighboring commanderies. But seeing how the subordinate prefect of Zhiting Commandery and the Ximen clan were making eyes at each other, these men, no different from mercenaries, might well take the magnates' money and turn around to kill him instead.

Or should he seek help from the Grand Preceptor Xi Zhongjing Shang, who was suppressing bandits in Yanzhou? But Jing Shang's army ran rampant wherever it went, and its discipline was said to be even worse than that of Ruchen and Dong Xi during the northern campaign. Giving him an excuse to come plunder the rich Weicheng Commandery would be like opening the sheepfold and letting the wolf in — Diwu Lun would become the greatest sinner in the region.

"Of two evils, choose the lesser. Rather than kneeling to welcome the imperial army and letting them butcher us, I'd sooner shut the door and play with the magnates myself."

Diwu Lun heeded good advice and, following Geng Chun's words, abandoned the idea of tearing his face off with the Ximen clan in a fight to the death right from the start.

"Since a martial struggle won't work."

"Then we'll switch to a civil struggle!"

The next day, the very first thing Diwu Lun did after arresting Li Yan and taking over his post was to make a grand, conspicuous show of leaving the city to offer sacrifices at the Shrine of Ximen Bao.

The Shrine of Ximen Bao stood by the banks of the Zhang River. Four hundred years ago, this river was not as calm and tame as it is now, but raged fiercely — hence the practice of marrying a bride to the River Earl. When Ximen Bao governed Ye, he cast the witches, the Elders, and the powerful magnates into the river, putting an end to that evil custom.

Afterwards, Ximen Bao mobilized the people to dig twelve canals, channeling the Zhang River to irrigate the farmlands. Once divided, the Zhang River was no longer untamed, and the muddy, silt-laden waters of the twelve canals deposited fertile sludge on the fields, raising yields and improving the soil. This brought irrigation to over ten thousand qing of fine farmland around Yecheng, and the Wei region grew prosperous from it.

After Ximen Bao died, the people of Ye built the Temple of Grand Master Ximen Bao at the place where he had tamed the waters.

Yet, with a touch of irony, Ximen Bao, who had once been a warrior against superstition, was now the center of many superstitious activities around his shrine. Ximen Bao had seemingly replaced the wife-taking River Earl of old and become a local deity, with incense burning endlessly and spirit dancers cavorting merrily outside the temple gate.

And Ximen Bao, who once cast the Elders and magnate leaders into the river to suppress local powers — his descendants had now flourished here for four hundred years and transformed into the preeminent magnates of Weicheng Commandery, to the point of overpowering two-thousand-bushel officials. Tsk.

Diwu Lun did not know whether this counted as a story of a dragon-slayer turning into a dragon.

All he knew was that his respect for Ximen Bao was truly heartfelt. After entering the temple, he presented a eulogy that read: "Alas, when Ximen Bao was Prefect of Ye, the waterworks he established benefit the people to this day, granting them sufficiency and wealth. His fame is known throughout the realm, and his grace flows to later generations without end — truly a worthy grand master!"

Offering sacrifices at his shrine was not only a friendly signal to the Ximen clan to ease relations between the two sides, but also a way to win favor with the local people. As far as Diwu Lun knew, they revered Ximen Bao immensely. To ordinary folk, the staff of authority in Diwu Lun's hand, the seal and cord at his waist, and the Emperor's appointment meant nothing at all. Over two hundred years, they had come to accept one unshakable truth:

"Any two-thousand-bushel official in Wei must first gain the approval of Grand Master Ximen!"

Otherwise, let alone getting anything done, even gaining a foothold would be difficult.

And so, after leaving the shrine, Diwu Lun announced his first official decree: "This Grand Governor shall provide funds to erect a stone stele outside the Shrine of Ximen Bao, so that Grand Master Ximen's achievements may be inscribed in stone and endure forever."

These "goodwill" gestures from Diwu Lun caused the Ximen clan to lower their guard slightly. Ximen Ping, who served as Head of the Merit Evaluation Section, thanked Diwu Lun on behalf of his ancestor and also offered the Ximen clan's promise.

"Grand Governor, the autumn harvest has arrived. Taxes are collected in the eighth month and rents in the ninth. We subordinate officials will certainly urge the petty functionaries to do their utmost — there will be no delays!"

This was the truly chilling part: Weicheng had just experienced a seemingly long-planned rebellion; Li Yan and dozens of his followers had been beheaded or arrested; and nearly half the section heads in Yecheng were gone.

Yet the Ximen clan could guarantee that this year's autumn harvest, rents, and taxes would all be collected smoothly, ensuring that Diwu Lun fulfilled his KPI annual assessment as commandery governor. Good for you, good for me, good for everyone.

In other words, whether Li Yan was there or not, whether a Grand Governor was there or not, hardly mattered at all. The officialdom of Weicheng still operated normally under the leadership of the Ximen clan. After all, two-thousand-bushel officials come and go like flowing water, but the great house of Ximen is forged of iron.

Had Diwu Lun adopted an uncooperative attitude upon arrival, a single glance from the Ximen clan would have ensured endless problems with tax and rent collection. They might even have stirred up a peasant uprising for him, and then added pressure at court through the General of the Guard Wang She to speed his departure.

What troubled Diwu Lun even more was that, through this sacrificial activity for Ximen Bao, he discovered that the Ximen clan, inheriting the legacy of their ancestor, enjoyed immense prestige in Wei and were well-loved by the common people. A commandery governor who rotated out every few years was far less memorable than the Ximen clan.

And from what Geng Chun and Ma Yuan had observed these days, the Ximen clan conducted themselves much like Diwu Lun: they were charitable, supported widows and orphans, and were even willing to take in some of the refugees on behalf of the government...

From a moral standpoint, the Ximen clan were absolutely the kind of "good magnates" Diwu Lun would put a checkmark next to on his list.

But from the standpoint of interests, it could also be understood this way: "Those who support me are good magnates."

"Those who oppose me are bad magnates!"

At the level of a two-thousand-bushel official, once you controlled a commandery, the boundaries between good and bad, right and wrong, began to blur.

What was right, and what was wrong — Diwu Lun would have to weigh these carefully from now on.

Seeing Diwu Lun frowning in thought, Geng Chun assumed he was still wary of the Ximen clan and quietly offered him an idea.

"Actually, Boyu, if you want the Ximen clan's full cooperation, there is a method. Some two-thousand-bushel officials used it when they first took office in Julu, and it never failed."

"What method?"

"Marriage ties." Geng Chun's smile was sly. "You already have a principal wife, but you could certainly take a daughter of a Ximen concubine as a concubine. That way, you and the Ximen become relatives, your interests bound together, and everything becomes much easier."

What a joke — did he think Diwu Lun was that kind of man? Diwu Lun actually hesitated for a moment, but...

He also knew Geng Chun was just stirring the pot. The two men's eyes turned to Ma Yuan — don't forget, Diwu Lun had brought his old father-in-law to his post.

If Ma Yuan were angered into leaving, a hundred Ximen clans couldn't make up for that loss.

Besides, Diwu Lun was still somewhat unwilling to concede. If he compromised and yielded so easily, acting at the magnates' beck and call and becoming their puppet, that would truly be a disgrace to a transmigrator.

"If you can't beat them, join them — that's not wrong."

Diwu Lun thought to himself: "But I want to fight a little longer, and in the end, make those who know what's good for them join me — not the other way around!"

Diwu Lun's ideals were quite fine, but reality was indeed very stark.

In mid-August, the long-delayed Shepherd of Jizhou and the Vice Supervisor of Jizhou finally arrived in Weicheng Commandery and completed the handover procedures with Diwu Lun. The Vice Supervisor and the officials of the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties escorted Li Yan and Yan Chun back to Chang'an together.

As the troops of Zhiting Commandery were "courteously" sent away, and the hundred-odd mounted followers Geng Chun had brought also returned north, Diwu Lun suddenly realized: once the tide receded, the one swimming naked was himself!

Diwu Lun now fully understood the difficulty of being an air-dropped commandery governor. Although he had relied on the Shangshu's horse-beheading sword to execute dozens of Li Yan's die-hard followers, leaving the city gate of Ye dripping with blood and hanging heads on the walls to create terror and intimidate the rabble, the magnates respected him on the surface but likely didn't take it seriously at all — how many times had they seen such scenes before?

Diwu Lun couldn't help but grumble to Ma Yuan: "Elder, the situation right now is that my decrees don't even leave Yecheng."

He had hoped for some comfort or advice from Ma Yuan, but instead Ma Yuan twisted the knife: "Boyu thinks too highly of himself."

Ma Yuan said: "Look around the city — the commandery troops guarding the gates, from officers down to the rank and file, are all men of the powerful families. Does anyone heed your orders? Will the common folk of Yecheng suddenly love and support you because you arrested Li Yan, who governed with leniency and kindness for ten years?"

Diwu Lun laughed bitterly: "So, right now my decrees don't even leave the commandery office?"

"Boyu is too proud."

Geng Chun joined in twisting the knife, gesturing toward the door and lowering his voice: "The commandery's subordinate officials are divided into bureaus handling affairs. The head is the Personnel Evaluator, who holds the power of official advancement and demotion — the Ximen clan holds that post themselves. The most influential is the Banditry Bureau Chief, who can train troops to protect the commandery and arrest bandits — that post is held by the Li clan of Wu'an."

"As for the other bureaus, every important position is filled by the scions of powerful families from the various counties. They breathe the same air, are bound by intermarriage, and regard the Governor as nothing but a puppet. Openly they defer to you as the two-thousand-bushel official, but behind your back they treat you as a beardless boy."

"Exactly."

Ma Yuan extended his little finger, pointing at the tiny space of the small hall, and laid bare the cruel truth: "Boyu, though you now hold the rank of two thousand bushels, in reality, your decrees cannot even leave this little room!"

……

PS: Chapter 3 at 18:00.