Chapter 155: Adding Frost to Snow

(This morning's chapter is delayed to around 9:00. Reason: cold, sleepy, couldn't get up to write.)

……

"Li Neng was too impatient."

Bundled up thick against the cold, Ximen Yanshou sat fishing by the Zhang River. He too had heard that the grain from the three northwestern counties had been robbed by bandits. Shaking his head, he baited his hook and said, "After losing an arm at Neihuang, he couldn't accept it. He had to win one against Diwu Lun, and so he went and did something this rash. Now the Grand Governor will likely turn his suspicions toward the Li clan."

Last time Li Neng came to the Ximen clan, he hinted that the two families should join hands to curb the dangerous expansion of the Grand Governor's power, to let that whelp Diwu know that Wei City was ruled by the Li and Ximen clans!

Just as the two families had allied for decades to deal with every parachuted-in two-thousand-bushel official — the Ximen baiting with honey, the Li threatening with a dagger — the alliance of powerful families had always won.

"But this time is different." Ximen Yanshou felt it was time to explain his view of this struggle to his son, the Labor Section Chief Ximen Ping.

"Setting aside how Diwu Lun entered the city under a false name, showing both courage and judgment — his right and left arms, Ma Yuan and Geng Chun, are both sons of renowned gentry families. Whether through marriage ties or friendship, they willingly serve beneath him. That shows Diwu Lun's talent is no ordinary thing. You can't use the same methods you'd use against a mediocre official on him."

"And just looking at this chaotic age, this is really no time for Wei City to be tearing itself apart."

This was the fundamental disagreement between the Ximen and Li in-laws. Ximen Yanshou believed that with unrest breaking out everywhere, to protect the interests of all the powerful families of Wei Commandery from invading imperial armies, great bandits, and rebel forces, they needed a leader on the stage, someone who could rally the entire commandery's strength.

That leader had to be strong-willed yet able to cooperate. Diwu Lun basically met the Ximen clan's requirements — he acted with thunderous decisiveness and had inner stratagems. Barely two months in office, and he had already chiseled a living spring from stagnant waters.

And looking at the makeup of Diwu Lun's "inner court," there were scholars from humble families, but even more were sons of powerful clans. The moment he stepped down from his carriage, he paid respects at the shrine of Ximen the Grandee, leaving the Ximen clan with a fine impression.

Ximen Yanshou was quite happy to cooperate with Diwu Lun. The Li family, however, thought nothing of the sort.

In the eyes of the Wu'an Li clan, the Ximen were compromising, retreating, appeasing!

"What exactly is the Li clan trying to do?" Ximen Ping asked his father, puzzled. Why was Li Neng so eager to oppose Diwu Lun? What was his aim? On the surface, his family's interests hadn't been harmed at all.

"Because Li Neng harbors great ambitions. Seeing the world in chaos, he wants a Wei Commandery controlled by men of Wei Commandery. To put it plainly — a Wei Commandery run by the Li clan!"

Having seen so many parachuted-in Grand Governors who were either fools or scoundrels, a well-rooted powerful family can hardly help but think: I could do that job myself!

"But do the Li brothers have the capacity for that?"

Ximen Yanshou shook his head. "Ever since the Warring States, the Li clan's vision and luck have always been poor."

Take their founding ancestor Li Mu — a famously great general who struck the Xiongnu in the north and thwarted mighty Qin in the west, only to be killed in the end by a fatuous King of Zhao, dying under the schemes of the sycophant Guo Kai.

And Li Mu's grandson Li Zuoche threw in his lot with the wrong men time and again, and in the end was dragged down by Han Xin. After half a lifetime of twists and turns, he gained no real merit and slunk back to his hometown, leaving the Li clan as nothing more than local strongmen.

So in Ximen Yanshou's view, the Wu'an Li clan was exactly like their namesake Li Guang — stubborn, hotheaded, and star-crossed.

Ximen Ping understood. "So then, should our family help Diwu Lun?"

Ximen Yanshou shook his head.

"Help the Li clan, then?"

"Help neither?"

His son had guessed wrong three times in a row, and Ximen Yanshou grew impatient. Lifting his fishing rod, he said, "Let them fight it out. It won't take long to see who wins."

"Whoever has the better odds — that's who we'll help!"

"Just as over the past three hundred years, Yecheng went from Wei to Zhao, from Zhao to Qin, then rose with Zhao again, and finally surrendered to Han, then changed its banner to the Great Xin — no matter who wins, the Ximen clan has always won alongside them."

……

Meanwhile, inside the commandery office, although Diwu Lun had already guessed that the robbery of those six thousand bushels of grain was the work of the Wu'an Li clan, he could not move against them just yet.

"In peacetime, it would be simple — brand the Li family as rebels and send a single memorial straight to court."

A strong central dynasty could naturally deliver justice from on high, dispatching Embroidered Uniform Envoys to mobilize commandery and kingdom troops and help the two-thousand-bushel official root out overly brazen powerful families.

But now Diwu Lun could not easily call for reinforcements. After all, even a three-year-old child knew that the imperial army was worse than bandits. Once you let the wolf through the door, they'd help you lay the whole commandery to waste.

The Li clan feared this too. Petty squabbles drew no attention, but if things blew up, they dared not openly revolt and invite the court's main army to come exterminate them.

This was a game where Diwu Lun could not easily call in outside help. He could only gradually forge alliances within Wei Commandery. Once Ma Yuan had trained over a thousand soldiers at Neihuang, the situation would change dramatically.

Until then, Diwu Lun had to keep his trips outside the commandery office to a minimum. He had to be wary of the Li family staking everything on a decapitation strike — just as Zhang Chun had done to Dong Xi in New Qinzhong.

For now, Diwu Lun also had to avoid showing any suspicion toward the Li clan. He had to wait for a chance to settle things once and for all.

It was in this delicate situation that the court's edict finally arrived!

"Li Yan spread rumors through Zhao and Wei, deluding the masses north of the River. Loyal ministers and filial sons all burned with fury. The Attacker of Slaves, Bo Lun, serving as envoy, with wisdom, courage, and stratagem, took Li Yan captive. Those summoned were annihilated, their crimes fully punished, and the land of Ji is at peace."

"Now Diwu Lun is appointed as the 'Marquis Who Subdues the Treacherous'!"

And so Diwu Lun rose another rank in the peerage. But compared to the precious marquisates of the Former Han, these Great Xin monkey-titles were far too cheap — no actual fief, and the promised land and stipends never actually reached his hands.

Follow the public account: Book Friends Base Camp — follow and receive cash and coins!

As for the meritorious officials who had assisted Diwu Lun in putting down the rebellion, Ma Yuan and Geng Chun were both enfeoffed as "Barons" by Wang Mang. Diwu Lun's request in the memorial to have Ma Yuan serve as County Magistrate to divide the powerful families' power was also granted — the acting magistrate became a full appointment.

Because the former Commandery Aide and Commandant had both been dismissed for involvement in the rebellion, the edict also instructed Diwu Lun to recommend a man of merit to serve as the six-hundred-bushel Commandery Aide and assist him in governing the commandery.

Of course, the commandery's true second-in-command, the Commandant, would certainly be appointed separately by the central court. And following Wang Mang's habit of balancing his ministers' power, it would definitely be someone Diwu Lun did not know, probably still on the road. The commandery's military and administrative authority still rested entirely in Diwu Lun's hands — though what he actually held in his hands was just a handful of chicken feathers.

Everyone assumed the post of Commandery Aide was surely Geng Wuguan's for the taking. Geng Chun, who knew the inside story, only smiled and said nothing.

In the end, the post of Commandery Aide fell to someone no one ever expected.

"Bandit Suppressor Li Neng, courtesy name Boyong — His Majesty also enfeoffs him as a Baron. His meritorious service is outstanding. Let him serve on probation as Acting Commandery Aide, to be made a full appointment once I report to the court!"

……

There were two important military posts in Wei Commandery. The first was the Military Section Chief, who answered to the Commandant and was stationed a hundred li to the east in Wei County, commanding two thousand commandery troops.

The second was the Bandit Section Chief, also called the Bandit Suppressor, who in theory answered to the Grand Governor and was stationed in Yecheng, commanding one thousand commandery troops.

As a result of the powerful families' victories in their struggles with the commandery office over the past century, both the Military Section Chief and the Bandit Suppressor posts were held by powerful families. The Bandit Suppressor belonged to the Li clan, while the Military Section Chief rotated among the various families of the eastern commandery. Controlling military power was what determined a family's authority in the commandery.

But now, Diwu Lun had sent Li Neng a piece of poisoned bait. With a rank of only four hundred bushels, he was given the chance to be promoted to the six-hundred-bushel post of Commandery Aide!

"The Commandery Aide is the Grand Governor's deputy, assisting the two-thousand-bushel official in managing all affairs. He is the third-ranking figure in the commandery."

"But who doesn't know that the Commandery Aide these days is nothing but a hollow post for those put out to pasture?"

Since the Han, with the court's tacit approval, the local tripartite division of power among Governor, Commandant, and Aide had trended toward concentration in the Governor's hands. The Governor began to manage everything — military, administration, law, and civil affairs — and with all the subordinate clerks at his disposal, the Commandery Aide's functions were basically hollowed out. This was a necessity; without it, the two-thousand-bushel officials would have been even less able to contend with the powerful families.

So Li Neng knew perfectly well that giving up the Bandit Suppressor post meant the Li clan abandoning its military power and handing over the thousand-odd troops near the commandery seat. Though the low-level officers within were mostly Li family partisans, Diwu Lun was no civil official by background — he had fought the Xiongnu in New Qinzhong. Could he not know the ins and outs of military affairs? Sooner or later, they would be rooted out one by one.

This countermove left Li Neng deeply distressed. He could neither refuse nor accept.

He politely declined, citing his crippled left hand, but Diwu Lun replied that it was precisely out of consideration for Li Neng that he was given this post. Indeed — if even the idle civil post of Commandery Aide was too taxing, then why cling to the military post of Bandit Suppressor and refuse to let go?

Li Neng again declined, citing his own uncouthness and lack of learning, but Diwu Lun still refused to accept.

Just as Li Neng found himself in a dilemma, it was his in-law Ximen Ping who came forward and, on behalf of the old master, pointed out the way through the maze for Li Neng.

"Since things have come to this, better to take a step back."

"Neither be the Commandery Assistant, nor the Bandit Overseer — retire on grounds of age and return home!"

"Does old man Ximen mean to ruin me?" Li Neng first flew into a great rage, but then it dawned on him.

Indeed, in the current struggle, after the Huangze bandits were incorporated, although Li Neng had directed the Qinkou bandits to rob the grain, within the commandery office Diwu Lun still held a slight upper hand. With measures like selecting the worthy and employing the capable, drawing in powerful local clans, and paying the Yecheng clerks their full salaries, Yecheng was already on the verge of shifting its allegiance.

Though Li Neng still had over a thousand commandery troops in hand, the defense of the city gates was gradually falling under the control of Diwu Lun's trusted men; the commandery soldiers had been squeezed out beyond the city walls. Diwu Lun kept himself shut inside the commandery office, hard to assassinate — could Li Neng really stake everything on open rebellion? The Ximen clan and the County Magistrate of Ye County would not necessarily help him, and if it drew the imperial army, then there would be real trouble.

Unable to advance, it was instead Ximen Yanshou's proposal to "take a step back" that could let Li Neng extricate himself.

The Li clan's power in the three northwestern counties was extremely strong. Backed by the Taihang Mountains, easy to defend and hard to attack, they could call up two thousand retainers and clan troops, plus over a thousand iron-office slaves and more than a thousand Qinkou Mountain bandits — a force of four thousand. If they could coerce the officials and commoners of the three counties, their military strength would exceed ten thousand. That was his real leverage.

Rather than be propped up in Yecheng as a powerless Commandery Assistant, trapped in a cage and letting Diwu Lun control the commandery seat at will, it was better to withdraw to the northwest, where Diwu Lun could not harm his family in the slightest.

Once this thought struck him, Li Neng proved quite decisive. He again resigned his post, citing the crippling of his arm and the severe pain it caused him in winter. Taking only the "baron" title Wang Mang had granted him, he departed Yecheng under cover of night and turned back toward Wu'an.

On the road home, Li Neng had already thought out the next phase of his struggle: to plunge Wei Commandery into internal strife and external trouble, leaving Diwu Lun no leisure to deal with him. He merely instructed his younger brother: "Send someone at once to Handan, to seek an audience with the Zhao Prince's heir, Liu Lin. Tell him I have news that concerns the life and death of all the Liu clans north of the Yellow River to report!"

……

Li Neng simply slipping away — this was indeed something that Diwu Lun, who "foresees things like a god," had not anticipated.

This withdrawal was truly a bird entering the forest, a fish plunging into the deep. The plan to sideline Li Neng with the post of Commandery Assistant and eventually keep him under control in Yecheng as a hostage had fallen through.

But that did not hinder the overall outcome from turning favorable. Diwu Lun swiftly appointed Zhao Pang, who had fought bravely in pacifying the Huangze bandits, as Bandit Overseer. Now a bandit really would be catching bandits. As for the commandery soldiers, into whom the Li clan had surely planted many outsiders and whom outsiders found hard to command, he was in no hurry to purge them — he left them outside the city for the time being.

Diwu Lun also recommended Geng Chun as Acting Commandery Assistant, giving him a rest from the hectic duties of the Five Offices Clerk. Over these two-plus months, Geng Chun had been like an old ox plowing five qing a day — utterly exhausted. Diwu Lun only had him take over tasks like comforting the widowed and orphaned in his stead, letting him recuperate for a while.

With Li Neng taking a step back and the Ximen clan cooperating and assisting quite actively — offering timely help — Yecheng was now, preliminarily, under Diwu Lun's control. From the stage where government decrees did not leave his office, in just two months he had reached the third stage of "government decrees promulgated throughout Yecheng." It had truly not been easy.

But to next bring all eighteen counties of the commandery under control would likely take another year or so. The forces within the commandery were tangled and complex; the hardships of that struggle would be absolutely beyond comparison with what had come before.

Heaven did not oblige. In late October, the weather turned freakish; frost and snow descended a full month or so early, killing the beans and the winter wheat. This meant that the common people's vital staple would suffer a greatly reduced harvest the following year.

The Guandong region south of the great river fared even worse. It was said that in autumn they had already suffered a locust plague; grain yields were slashed, and rice cost two thousand cash per dan.

And the arrival of a certain envoy made Wei Commandery's finances even worse.

The visitor was an Embroidered Uniform Envoy from Chang'an, under orders to requisition grain to supply the army of Grand Preceptor Xi Zhong Jing Shang in his campaign against the Taishan bandit Fan Chong. After dragging on for half a year and devastating several commanderies in Yanzhou, Jing Shang had finally decided to push into Taishan when spring came next year and fight a decisive battle with Fan Chong!

Since Yanzhou could be squeezed for no more oil, the imperial army had turned its designs on Jizhou, which had not yet suffered the calamity of war.

Diwu Lun received the envoy and laid out his difficulties: "But this commandery's registers were burned by the traitor Li Yan. The annual accounting will not come until next year."

"His Majesty says, no matter."

The Embroidered Uniform Directing Envoy smiled and said: "His Majesty once leafed through the household figures of Wei Commandery from a few years ago — two hundred and ten thousand households."

"If each household contributes a mere one dou of grain, that yields twenty-one thousand dan, enough to supply twenty thousand troops for one month, and Wei Commandery would not be put in dire straits."

He thought burning the account books meant no grain tax? Diwu Lun was still too naive. The man he was dealing with was Wang Mang!

"His Majesty says, for now, supply this much. When the tenth month of next year comes and the two years' accounts are submitted, let the imperial secretaries and the revenue minister do the calculations. The Bandit-Suppressing Marquis need not worry."

"When the time comes, it will certainly be — refund the excess, and make up the shortfall!"

……

PS: Chapter 2 at 18:00.