Chapter 153: Killing the Chicken for the Horse

Neihuang — the name means "inside the Yellow River." Neihuang County lies north of the great river, in the south of Wei Commandery. It enjoys the bounty of Yellow Marsh and irrigation from the Clear River, ranking among the commandery's wealthiest and most populous counties.

Inside the county offices, the Neihuang County Magistrate was still quite pleased with the little "drowning" accident he had arranged for the accounting clerk a few days earlier. He said to his Assistant Magistrate, "For dealing with this newly arrived little Grand Governor, one word will do: stall!"

In the Neihuang County Magistrate's view, the only reason Diwu Lun had taken Wei Commandery so easily from Li Yan was the help of the Zhiting commandery troops. His own Neihuang County had already demonstrated its loyalty to the court while the Zhiting troops were stationed here, and had even supplied a portion of grain. Other counties might have to submit their annual accounts and tax registers — but surely Neihuang could be exempted?

After all, the account books really did have serious problems. Even if they pinned all the bad debts on the Zhiting troops, they still could not cover up the fact that over the past year, the Neihuang County Magistrate had been in cahoots with the Yellow Marsh bandits.

Given the state of the world, officials and bandits working as one family — was it really just Diwu Lun and Ma Yuan?

So the Neihuang County Magistrate had come up with the brilliant idea of the account books being swept away by a flood. He was certain that Diwu Lun, newly in office, had no troops and no grain, and could do nothing to any of the counties.

This year, Wei Commandery had not only produced a rebellion but was also swarming with bandits everywhere: the Taihang bandits, the Qinkou Mountain bandits, the Yellow Marsh bandits — each had gathered hundreds or even a thousand men. And outside the commandery's borders, there were even greater outlaws. Not to mention Fan Chong running rampant in Mount Tai, even in Pingyuan Commandery a few months ago, a woman named Chi Zhaoping, who called herself an immortal, had gathered several thousand followers as bandits in the Yellow River flood zone after the dikes broke, and had already encroached on the edges of Wei Commandery.

Just keep using the stalling tactic for now. Who knew what the situation in Wei Commandery would be by next year?

"Who knows, if we stall long enough, the Grand Governor might just be gone!"

Either transferred away by an emperor whose orders changed overnight, or killed off by some powerful local clan in the commandery that found him an eyesore.

The Neihuang County Magistrate had another reason to look down on Diwu Lun: "He summons worthy men and recruits scholars, yet he actually took in that dwarf cripple Huang Chang from our own county, even appointed him as a Clerk Attendant under his personal staff and treats him as a trusted confidant. It just shows he has no one else to use."

But the first one to return was not the accounting clerk. Instead, word came that the commandery Grand Governor had dispatched his subordinate officer Ma Yuan to Neihuang County!

This threw the previously calm and self-assured Neihuang County Magistrate into a panic. Could it be that Diwu Lun had sent someone to his door to call him to account? That shouldn't be!

"Immediately arrange for the Grand Governor's envoy to rest at the post station!"

The Neihuang Magistrate would summon the local powerful families to entertain that subordinate officer, sound him out, and see if he could be bribed. If so, then all would be well — they could all join together in deceiving Diwu Lun. If not...

Then let him choke to death on his own vomit while drunk, stumble into a ditch and crack his skull, or fall into a latrine and drown!

Before the Neihuang Magistrate had even finished changing his clothes, a subordinate came rushing back in haste to report: "My Lord County Magistrate, that subordinate officer refused to enter the post station and has come straight into the city!"

"What!"

The Neihuang Magistrate grew frantic: "Quickly, have the county guards stop him."

"They couldn't stop him. That subordinate officer Ma Yuan has our county's cripple Huang Chang guiding his way, and he's brought over a hundred commandery troops behind him!"

So they were playing for real! The Neihuang County Magistrate felt deeply wronged. He was hardly the only one who had tried to fudge this year's annual accounting — why come arrest him? The other side was coming with fierce momentum; it was too late for second thoughts now. The Neihuang Magistrate hurriedly gathered his valuables, intending to flee the city with his family and throw in his lot with the bandits in Yellow Marsh.

But Ma Yuan acted with whirlwind speed. He came too fast, already kicking the doorframe apart as he burst in. Blade drawn, he appeared before the County Magistrate and barked, "Neihuang Magistrate, do you know your crimes?"

The Neihuang Magistrate dropped to his knees with a thud. "I... I do not know what crimes."

"Let me tell you." Huang Chang slipped out from behind Ma Yuan. Hands clasped behind his back, he walked over to the County Magistrate, who was being pinned to the ground by the convict soldiers, his face full of shock. The little dwarf's face was brimming with smug satisfaction.

Huang Chang prided himself on his learning and talent, unwilling to spend his life as a mere rich man. Years ago, he had come to the county seat seeking to test for a clerk position, and this very County Magistrate had mocked him and driven him out. Now it was his turn for revenge. Righteous and imposing, he loudly enumerated the charges:

"Crime one: disobeying commandery orders, failing to observe established regulations, damaging and destroying the account registers, and deceiving Lord Diwu."

"Crime two: turning your back on public duty to pursue private ends, twisting edicts to guard your own profit, preying upon the common people, and amassing wealth through corruption."

"Crime three: making appointments unfairly, slighting the worthy while favoring sycophants, allowing your sons and younger kin to rely on your power and influence, and soliciting oversight over those you are meant to supervise."

"Crime four: violating public trust to collude with those below, currying favor with powerful families, colluding with bandits and thieves, trafficking in bribes and goods, and undermining government decrees."

Huang Chang was a local; did he not know perfectly well all the foul deeds the County Magistrate had done? He listed them one by one. Some were undeniably true; others, with a little investigation, could eventually be proven.

Ma Yuan then gave the Neihuang Magistrate no chance to protest his innocence. He simply barked an order for his men to seize him.

"Take him back to the commandery seat, to be dealt with by the Lord Grand Governor."

He then summoned the county clerks, who were trembling in fear after this shock, and produced the commandery order bearing Diwu Lun's great seal: "From this day forward, I shall temporarily serve as Acting Magistrate of Neihuang!"

After the Neihuang Magistrate was taken down, Diwu Lun felt immense satisfaction. He said to Geng Chun, "Don't those six-hundred-bushel county magistrates always say, 'Better to betray a two-thousand-bushel governor than to fail the powerful families'?"

"Well, the same goes for a newly appointed two-thousand-bushel governor."

"If I can't handle the powerful families, I can at least handle you!"

The Neihuang County Magistrate was the chicken that Diwu Lun slaughtered using Ma Yuan, the ox-butcher's cleaver.

After being escorted to Yecheng, he was quickly thrown into the main prison by Diwu Lun, awaiting only formal interrogation — in truth, Huang Chang had already interrogated him once on the road. But the Neihuang Magistrate only admitted to corruption, dereliction of duty, and disobeying orders from above. He adamantly refused to confess to colluding with powerful families or bandits.

It seemed the waters here ran very deep indeed. These six-hundred-bushel officials ought to have stood together with the commandery governor, but their power was weaker, making them easier for the powerful families to erode, buy off, and subdue. Add to that the fact that most of them came from neighboring commanderies or even neighboring counties, giving them a natural affinity with local powers, and so officials and gentry became one body, colluding in evil.

Geng Chun coughed once, then reminded Diwu Lun: "Boyu, you and I — we are powerful families too."

Diwu Lun glared at him. "The gentleman is no mere vessel. In our homeland, we are powerful families; in an outside commandery, we are two-thousand-bushel governors. Is that not allowed?"

Different places, different seats, different choices. Back when Diwu Lun was in New Qin, hadn't he too been "colluding with the powerful family Zhang Chun and in league with the bandit chief Ma"?

So Diwu Lun's elimination of the Neihuang Magistrate was not based on any personal moral judgment of good and evil, but rather on a simple rule: "If you don't support me, you get crossed out."

In any case, this kind of cooperation and struggle between the two-thousand-bushel governors, the powerful families, and the county officials had been going on for two hundred years. Before Emperor Yuan of the Former Han, the government held the advantage. Take the ruthless official Yan Yannian governing Zhuo Commandery: he simultaneously fought against the great clans — the Western Gao and Eastern Gao families — as well as the county officials and commandery clerks who colluded with them, and ultimately won, so that the entire commandery shook with fear.

But now, with the central government unable to provide any protection or support to its two-thousand-bushel governors, Diwu Lun could only race to seize political power before the court's authority utterly collapsed and powerful families and bandits began slaughtering two-thousand-bushel governors as easily as killing a dog. Otherwise, if things went badly, he might well lose his own life here.

After gaining control of the commandery administration, his original plan had been to take Yecheng next. But the powerful families in Yecheng were too deeply entrenched, and the Yecheng County Magistrate was a shrewd operator who gave him no handle to exploit. Diwu Lun had no choice but to change his approach.

"Avoid the big cities. Start with the neighboring counties first."

Sending Ma Yuan to Neihuang as Acting Magistrate was a small test of his blade. That area had more poor people and refugees. By recruiting able-bodied young men and building on the foundation of his three hundred convict soldiers, who were already showing results, he could train a thousand troops loyal to Lord Diwu by next year. Then, by using them to fight the Yellow Marsh bandits for practice, he would have the standing to wrestle with the great powerful families.

After taking down the Neihuang Magistrate, Diwu Lun also had the Neihuang accounting clerk — whose acting had been so outstanding — publicly executed before the assembled crowd, forcing the accounting officials from the other dozen or so counties to watch. These monkeys were indeed badly frightened by the chicken blood spilled all over the ground. Diwu Lun simply sent them back. The five counties whose account books had been "lost" to mountain floods or bandits — surely they had backup copies? They must be submitted.

As for the eight counties that had cooked their books, Diwu Lun did not make things too difficult for them. He merely stated that the commandery offices had carelessly caught fire, and their autumn harvest account registers had — yet again — been burned to ashes. They were to redo them and deliver them together with the grain owed to the commandery for this year.

And for the three counties — Ye, Fanyang, and Liangqi — whose annual accounts had been in good order, Diwu Lun praised them lavishly. He announced that when salaries were distributed next month, he would consider ensuring that everyone in those three counties, from the County Magistrate down to the lowliest clerk, received their full monthly stipend!

"We absolutely must not let honest people suffer!"

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For a moment, some rejoiced while others worried. But when a rather pleased Diwu Lun returned to the commandery offices, Geng Chun told him something.

"The Neihuang Magistrate — he's killed himself!"

When his elder brother returned, Li Lu, the Grand Iron Master of Weicheng Commandery, informed him of the latest news.

"The Neihuang Magistrate is dead. Dashed his head against a wall."

"He knew what was good for him," said the Bandit Suppressor Li Neng, unsurprised. The Neihuang Magistrate understood that some secrets were best left to rot in the belly. Once revealed, it would not just be his own death — his wife and children, his entire clan, would be doomed.

When Li Neng took his seat, his left arm still hung limp and powerless — like his ancestor, Li Mu, the Lord of Wu'an of Zhao, he was disabled. But Li Mu had been born with a right arm that could not straighten, whereas Li Neng's injury was acquired later in life.

Li Lu sat facing him across the same table, leaning forward. "Elder Brother, you visited the Western Gate clan residence — how did Western Gate Yanshou respond?"

"How do you think?" Li Neng's sneer showed his contempt for his father-in-law's family and their ambiguous stance.

"I tactfully explained to Western Gate Yanshou that Diwu Lun, on the surface, pretends he wants to share power with the commandery's powerful houses — he recruited Feng Weibo as a clerk and brought sons of various families into the commandery office."

"Yet at the same time, he recruits commoners and poor scholars as personal retainers, sends trusted men to drill convicts into soldiers, distributes armor and weapons, and now, under the pretext of the annual audit, has seized Neihuang County. His aim is to seize all authority in the commandery."

Li Neng said, "But that old man Western Gate just said that Wei has only just suffered the chaos of Li Yan's rebellion and cannot endure more upheaval."

He could not fathom what Western Gate Yanshou was thinking. After returning from that rebuff, Li Neng hardened his heart and decided to ignore the Western Gate clan — his family would walk its own path.

"Diwu Lun is insatiably greedy, yet possesses considerable courage, cunning, and resourcefulness. With Ma Yuan and Geng Chun as his right and left arms — one martial, one civil — he will not be easy to deal with. If we cannot suppress him while he is still a fledgling, once his wings are fully grown, he may be impossible to handle."

Li Neng said, "We cannot let Diwu Lun have it too easy. We must create some trouble for him, make him understand who truly calls the shots in Wei Commandery!"

In terms of illustrious lineage and backing at court, the Wei Cheng faction looked to the Tang family of Chiqiu and the Xu clan of Marquis Ping'en. But in terms of real strength, the Western Gate clan of Yecheng was famed for its wealth, while the Li clan of Wu'an County was the military backbone — Li Neng, as Bandit-Inspector, controlled the greater part of the commandery troops. His younger brother Li Lu, under the cover of the iron office, commanded over a thousand iron-office slaves across the three northwestern counties and held a monopoly on the supply of iron implements.

No matter which faction Wei Cheng belonged to — whether they walked the righteous path or the underworld, bandits or clan militia — they all depended on the Li family for iron-cast weapons. Through dealings with county magistrates and clerks friendly to the Li family in various places, they robbed only others and never touched the Li family's interests.

"Autumn has arrived; the bandits should be getting active again." Li Neng suddenly spoke this line. Their family had inherited the strategic boldness of Li Mu and Li Zuoche, and unlike the Western Gate clan, they had no taste for civil strife — they favored armed struggle.

Li Lu understood at once. "The mountain bandits of Qinkou Mountain, the marsh bandits of Yellow Marsh Lake — which group should we send?"

"Qinkou Mountain is too close to Wu'an. Just have them seize the grain shipments from Wu'an, She County, and Wushi bound for Yecheng."

"But the Yellow Marsh bandits — they can be sent out in full force."

"Take Neihuang County town. Kill Ma Yuan!"

Li Neng stroked his crippled left hand. "Break off one of Diwu Lun's arms — let's see if he still dares flap his wings recklessly!"

…

PS: The Wei Commandery Bandit-Inspector Li Neng's original name was Li Xiong, as seen in the Biography of Yao Qi in the Book of the Later Han. Because he shares a name with Gongsun Shu's chief strategist Li Xiong, I changed it to avoid confusing readers.

(Chapter 2 at 18:00.)