Chapter 163: A Loose Assembly of a Great Commandery

After successfully driving off the bandit mobs from the plains, Diwu Lun was to continue his spring inspection tour.

Before leaving Yuancheng, Diwu Lun advised the commandery subordinate Prefect Shi Xiong, who was being toyed with by the local strongmen: "Prefect Shi, you might send someone to visit the Xu clan of Ping'en, recruit their sons and younger kin, and draw them in as allies."

The Xu family of the Ping'en Marquisate, kin to the empresses of Emperors Xuan and Cheng of Han, were, like the Shi family, imperial in-laws who had risen to prominence since the reign of Emperor Xuan. They had been elevated to nobility by Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, and had once shared weal and woe, standing on the same front to help Emperor Xuan struggle against the Grand General Huo Guang. It was only later, when the Shi family saw that the House of Han was beyond saving, that they jumped ship and threw their lot in with Wang Mang.

When Diwu Lun first arrived in the commandery, he had sent gifts to the fifth-generation Ping'en Marquis, Xu Jing, and was quite willing to rebuild the bridge between the Shi and Xu families, letting them renew their former ties.

Shi Xiong thought only that Diwu Lun was wholeheartedly helping him seize power, and was deeply grateful. Little did he know that Diwu Lun simply found Shi Xiong too inept, no match at all for the Chai clan of Wei County or the strongmen of the commandery's east, and so had simply pulled in an ally for him. For the next half year or so, he would just wait for them to check and balance each other in the east, and not hinder him — Shi Xiong was also an agent sent by the court to keep an eye on him.

After leaving Yuancheng, Diwu Lun made a loop through Guantao, Qingyuan, and Ping'en in the northeast of Weicheng. When his carriage turned west again, Feng Qin, uncharacteristically, took the initiative to speak and offer a suggestion.

"As for the next three counties in the north of the commandery, I urge the Grand Governor not to go!"

Feng Qin was referring to the three counties of Hanhui, Hangou, and Jipei (present-day Cheng'an and Feixiang near Handan), all situated along the middle reaches of the Zhang River, bordering Huan Pavilion Commandery (Zhao Commandery) and Fuchang Commandery (Guangping Commandery) to the north. The land was flat and broad, and they were populous counties.

Diwu Lun had heard Huang Zhang mention the situation in these three counties before. Now that Feng Qin had brought it up himself, he asked him to elaborate: "Weibo, tell me, why can't I enter?"

Feng Qin said: "The Grand Governor should have heard of the 'Three Zhao' of this commandery — it refers to three Liu-surnamed marquisates descended from the old state of Zhao."

It must be said that although Weicheng bears the character "Wei" in its name, historically it long belonged to the Zhao region. In the early Han, several Princes of Zhao were enfeoffed here, and this entire area was their domain.

However, the Princes of Zhao under the great Han dynasty seemed cursed — they rose and fell in quick succession. Empress Dowager Lü alone did away with three of them. Add to that her son-in-law Zhang Ao, and her nephew Lü Lu, who also served as Prince of Zhao, and none met a good end.

In just over a decade, the Prince of Zhao changed six times, becoming the most ill-fated princely title, one that the children of the Liu clan shunned like the plague. It was not until Emperor Wu of Han's tough-as-nails brother, Liu Pengzu, was enfeoffed here that the throne was finally held securely.

Liu Pengzu's posthumous title was "Prince Jingsu of Zhao." Though he was not as prolific as the neighboring Prince Jing of Zhongshan, he still had over twenty sons. When Emperor Wu of Han implemented the Decree of Extended Grace, the vast Zhao Kingdom naturally could not escape, and in one stroke, twenty-four marquisates were carved out of it.

Hanhui, Hangou, and Jipei were all carved out during the reigns of Emperors Wu and Xuan of Han and placed under the jurisdiction of Weicheng Commandery. But in terms of both bloodline and geography, they are closer to Handan — their bodies are in Wei Commandery, but their hearts are in Zhao.

After Wang Mang took power, he reneged on his promises and still abolished the Liu-surnamed marquisates. But the three counties had been ruled by the Liu clan for a century, and they would not fall in line with the court just because a County Magistrate was parachuted in. They remained firmly in the grip of the three families.

Feng Qin said: "Although the three counties submit their annual reports to Weicheng, their local administration and county troops all act independently. What is more fearsome is that they stand united with over twenty brother counties in the Zhao region, all regarding the descendant of the Prince of Zhao in Handan as their senior lineage and obeying his commands."

What was this? This was an upgraded version of the Di clans of Linqu Township. Over twenty powerful families joining forces could muster tens of thousands of troops — how terrifying.

It was precisely because the descendants of the Prince of Zhao were so vast and powerful that no Grand Governor dared to touch them. Even the Li Yan rebellion did not manage to implicate them: pull one hair and the whole body moves. If the Zhao prince's descendant Liu Lin rallied them with a single call, it would trigger a true rebellion, spanning commanderies and counties, and all of Hebei would change its banners. No one could bear that responsibility.

Feng Qin said: "I have heard that the three counties are linked by marriage to the Li clan of Wu'an, and that Li Neng is also on good terms with the former Prince of Zhao's descendant, Liu Lin..."

"Is Weibo worried that if I rashly enter the three counties, it will draw out assassins and thugs to waylay me?"

Indeed, it could not be left unguarded against. Diwu Lun was already in covert confrontation with the Li clan of Wu'an. He could train troops and make plans, but the other side could also rally allies — and they had pulled in a colossus that Diwu Lun had no way of dealing with in the short term.

"The Liu clan revives, the Li clan assists?"

It seemed that Li Yan, who had cooked up this prophetic saying, was merely the vanguard for another. This prophecy could probably be flipped and reused several more times.

Diwu Lun could only secretly report to the court, dress up this prophetic saying and send it up, to see if he could obtain an edict to join forces with other commanderies to contain the descendants of the Prince of Zhao.

At the same time, he sized up Feng Qin, who usually rarely opened his mouth: "Weibo ordinarily only attends to his own duties as Reporting Clerk. Why speak to me of these things today?"

Feng Qin merely replied: "Because this humble official feels that what the Grand Governor is doing can truly save the Wei lands."

In truth, Feng Qin had refused Diwu Lun's recruitment months ago, and had been somewhat resentful of Diwu Lun's moral coercion and the great pains taken to force him into office. But after several months of interaction and the sights of this county inspection tour, Feng Qin now thought in his heart...

"Lord Diwu is, I believe, a true worthy!"

The Feng family was a household of ten thousand bushels, having produced eight officials of the two-thousand-bushel rank alone. Feng Qin often heard his uncles discuss such matters and knew that the Grand Governors of this world could be roughly divided into a few types.

Grand Governors who were solved by problems were far too many — those crushed by strongmen and refugees, who died or were dismissed, all fell into this category.

Grand Governors who not only failed to solve problems but created even more — such as Diwu Lun's predecessor, Li Yan.

The final type was exceedingly rare: Grand Governors who could solve problems.

Of course, Feng Qin was, after all, a scion of a powerful family. Even with an official seal at his waist, his seat was still planted on the side of the local powers. He did not consider his own kind to be the problem, but rather felt that the trouble Weicheng Commandery now faced was just one thing: the bandit refugees constantly battering the commandery's borders!

Aside from a few powerful families like the Li clan of Wu'an who harbored "great ambitions" and feared no chaos in the world, the other powerful families all wished to maintain peace. If the propertyless masses surged in, the ones who would suffer would be them, the propertied.

Therefore, Weicheng Commandery needed a leader who could unite the strength of the entire commandery's powerful families to resist the refugee incursions. And, most importantly, to defend the interests of the Feng family.

In Feng Qin's view, Diwu Lun had indeed shown such potential.

"Entering Ye under an assumed name to disrupt Li Yan's resolve — that displayed his courage and insight."

"Governing in Yecheng, recruiting capable officials, and winning over the Ximen clan — that revealed his civil talents."

"And now, on his county tour, being able to command the commandery troops through Chai Rong and drive off the bandit refugees — that is military strategy."

In a letter to his good friend, the Magistrate of Liangqi County, Feng Qin praised his commandery lord in just this way. Of course, in daily life, this tall young handsome man still wore a cold, icy expression. He answered when Diwu Lun asked him something, and otherwise focused on assisting with commandery affairs.

Unlike that dwarf Huang Zhang, who grinned and fawned his way into Diwu Lun's presence all day long.

In short, Feng Qin longed for stability in the Wei lands and did not wish to see Diwu Lun perish prematurely in a struggle with the powerful families, hence his well-meaning warning.

Having received Feng Qin's suggestion, Diwu Lun took the good advice and bypassed the counties like Hanhui, heading directly west. That night, at the post station, Diwu Lun studied the map for a long time.

"Weicheng Commandery appears to be a great commandery with vast territory and a large population, with a full eighteen counties, but in reality, it is a loose assembly."

"The six counties in the east — Yuancheng, Wei County, and the rest — are beyond my reach. I can only let the subordinate Prefect Shi Xiong and the Military Section Head Chai Rong check and balance each other, while using the commandery troops to fend off the bandit refugees."

"The six counties in the west and north, dominated by Li Neng and the Three Zhao, are effectively independent fiefs, forming alliances and vertical coalitions among themselves, and externally linked to Liu Lin, the descendant of the Prince of Zhao in Handan. Pull one hair and the whole body moves."

"Only the few counties in the center and south still heed my command."

Among these, only Yecheng, Neihuang, and Liyang were firmly under Diwu Lun's control. Add to that the Feng family's Fanyang County, which was now showing signs of leaning his way — that was a good thing.

Diwu Lun's finger moved across the map: "Chi'qiu and Liangqi, the two counties closest to Yecheng, are my next destinations. I must secure them, or at the very least, ensure they don't defect to the enemy."

He smiled bitterly: "Only then can I truly claim 'one part of Wei's three divisions'!"

After Diwu Lun had done his own analysis, the situation became even clearer: "The contradiction between internal fragmentation and the need for unity and combined strength to survive in this chaotic age."

"This is the principal contradiction in Weicheng Commandery."

As for land issues and the like, they would have to be set aside for now. Diwu Lun did not yet have the power to overturn the table and rewrite the rules. He could only rely on vertical and horizontal alliances for now, making his friends many, and first win the hard fight against Li Neng before anything else.

By the end of the first month of the third year of Dihuang, just as Diwu Lun arrived at Chi'qiu and was preparing to use his old routine of offering sacrifices at the local "Tang Ju" shrine to win hearts, Geng Chun sent Huang Zhang rushing over with an urgent report for Diwu Lun.

"I had originally intended to deliver a second batch of grain to General Jing Shang at Baima Ford, but unexpectedly heard word of a defeat in the army. It is said that General Jing attacked the Mount Tai bandits to the east, and the government forces suffered a great rout!"

This news left Diwu Lun at a loss for words. Although he had felt that Jing Shang's imperial army was utterly undisciplined and of low quality, and unlikely to fare well against the Mount Tai bandits, he had never imagined they would be defeated so quickly. Even tens of thousands of pigs could have held out against Fan Chong for a while, couldn't they? Or was it that the Mount Tai bandits' strength far exceeded that of the plains bandits Diwu Lun had fought?

"How were they defeated?"

Huang Zhang said: "It's unclear. Some say General Jing Shang underestimated the enemy and fell into an ambush. Some say the two flanking forces under the Governors of Yan Province and Qing Province lost their nerve, hesitated, and refused to advance, leaving General Jing isolated deep in enemy territory. The bandits all painted their eyebrows red, looking like the wrath of heavenly soldiers, and then, as if aided by divine power, they destroyed the army and slew the general. The foot of Mount Tai was stained red with the blood of government troops. There are even rumors that General Jing Shang died for his country!"

Diwu Lun was shocked and asked urgently, "Then what about our Wei Cheng Commandery grain? Since the imperial army was routed, the grain never crossed the river, right?"

Huang Chang laughed. "Rest easy, Commandery Lord. Using the ice breakup as an excuse, it's all stored in Liyang Granary — not a single grain reached the imperial army's Assistant General! After word of the defeat came, they had no mind for it anyway."

"Good, very good. As long as the grain is safe." Diwu Lun laughed heartily, unwittingly uttering the very same words his old superior, the Swallowing-Hu General Han Wei, had spoken back then.

But with Jing Shang's army defeated and him killed, the situation east of the passes was bound to change. The Grand Preceptor Xi Zhong, a high official of the central court, had been slain by petty bandits — Wang Mang would surely commit massive forces to suppress them.

Imperial armies to the west, the Red Eyebrows to the east — the bandit menace Wei Cheng Commandery faced would only grow more severe, and internal troubles could not be resolved. It was truly difficult.

By all rights, Diwu Lun should have been deeply worried, but his thoughts wandered — drifting to an old friend.

"Since the Grand Preceptor Xi Zhong, Jing Shang, is dead…"

"My good friend Jing Dan, Jing Sunqing, holds office in Shuo Diao (Shanggu Commandery) north of Yan. His son is also named Jing Shang, and he's always been troubled by sharing the name. Now he can rest easy!"

"I wonder if Sunqing ever received that letter I sent earlier, asking him to recommend some worthy talents from Yan to me?"

……

PS: Rushing to post, so this is a bit short. Chapter 3 at 18:00.