Chapter 211: Change

In the last month of the fourth year of Dihuang, just as Diwu Lun crushed the "Great River Red Eyebrows" by the Yellow River and Chi Zhaoping threw herself into the current to die, another Red Eyebrow force was displaying its fearsome might at Dingtao City in Jiping Commandery, the very center of the realm.

In high antiquity, Emperor Yao first dwelt here, hence the name Taotang. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Fan Li, noting that Tao was a crossroads open on all sides where goods were traded, journeyed here to settle and do business; in nineteen years he amassed a thousand catties of gold three times over — a testament to its wealth.

By the Han dynasty, Dingtao was where Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor. It was an immensely rich and populous commandery. Though it was struck once by a Yellow River breach in the time of Emperor Wu of Han, it swiftly recovered its prosperity. By the reign of Emperor Ping, it held 290,000 households and a population of 1,380,000, far surpassing the Wei region.

Geng Chun's father held office here. Traveling back and forth to Dingtao several times in his youth, Geng Chun was deeply impressed by Jiping's prosperity: the roads were thronged with merchants coming from east and west, garrison soldiers performing their corvée, convicts with matted hair and grimy faces, and minor clerks hurrying on foot — an endless stream.

In the farmlands, village gates stood side by side. Nearly every patch of level ground had been opened up into fields, where hundreds, even thousands of farmers and bondservants were scattered, sowing millet seeds.

The liveliest place of all was the city's market ward. With its strategic position linking all directions, one could see merchants from every corner of the realm: cinnabar, lacquer, yak tails, and feathers from Qin and Shu; hides, bones, and ivory from the Yangtze and Han; nanmu, catalpa, bamboo, and arrows from Wu and Yue; fish, salt, felt, and furs from Yan and Zhao; lacquer, silk, and fine hemp from Wei and Han — all converged here to be traded. People came and went, voices a clamor, and the annual market tax was astonishing.

But when Geng Chun and Geng Yan reached this place again, all that past flourishing was gone!

The countryside lay desolate, the roads empty save for wild dogs and scattered soldiers chasing deer. Not even overwintering wheat had been planted in the fields, and here and there one could still see the corpses of those who had starved to death.

"Last year, the General of Renewal and the Grand Preceptor's great armies came east and ravaged the land for months. By the time they were defeated, the Red Eyebrows returned in their wake."

The superb strategic location that had been a blessing in peacetime had now become a battleground that every army had to fight over — far worse than Hebei.

Geng Ai had ordered a scorched-earth policy, and so the land around Dingtao lay utterly barren.

The party had disguised themselves as Red Eyebrows. Along the road, they saw everywhere Dong Xian's men out foraging for grain. As they drew near Dingtao City, all they saw were flames leaping to the sky!

"Dingtao City has fallen!"

This came from those fleeing the city. They said only that the Red Eyebrows had breached the walls and entered the day before, and that Geng Lian was still leading his private retainers in resisting at the commandery headquarters. The Red Eyebrows set fires to attack, and the wind whipped the flames until they spread through the whole city. In an instant, infernos raged everywhere, looting and chaos erupted, and the fire burned for ten li, not dying out for three days and nights.

Now the market wards and streets of old, the fish-scale tiles stretching ten thousand roofs between the southern and northern moats — all reduced to ashes. Common folk, clutching their valuables and carrying bundles, fled the flames until they filled the streets and choked the lanes. The wails of children and the weeping of women went on unbroken through the night. Even the Red Eyebrow commander Dong Xian had not expected the fire to burn so fiercely; he could not save it and could only let it burn, hastily seizing what wealth, cloth, and grain he could before fleeing the flames.

And Geng Chun's father, Geng Ai, had also perished in the inferno! Not even his remains could be recovered.

Upon hearing this terrible news from the family retainers who had escaped, Geng Chun froze. He stared blankly at the ruins of Dingtao, not uttering a single word for a long time. They had pushed themselves to the limit after leaving Wei, but they had still arrived a step too late.

Geng Yan, however, erupted in fury. The firelight of Dingtao reflected red in his eyes: "Uncle, let me take men and creep up to the city, close to Dong Xian's main camp. We'll catch him off guard and slaughter every last one of these hundred thousand Red Eyebrows of Liang — to avenge Granduncle!"

But Geng Chun did not agree. Only after a long while did he say, "We go back."

Geng Yan was unwilling: "We trekked a full eight hundred li — and we're just letting it go?"

"The bandits claim to be a hundred thousand strong. We have only two thousand. To withdraw now is better than returning with a destroyed army."

Geng Chun's voice choked with grief: "I have already lost my father. How dare I bury the two thousand soldiers Boyu entrusted to me here as well?"

He merely bowed three times toward Dingtao, knocking his head heavily to the ground, and said through clenched teeth, "Father, from this moment on, I am the head of the Songzi Geng clan."

"A father's enemy, one cannot share the same sky with. Only by washing away the Red Eyebrows will my hatred be cleansed. Revenge must be taken — but more important than that is the survival or ruin of the clan!"

Meanwhile, the shred of pity and sympathy Diwu Lun had felt for the Red Eyebrow Army by the great river vanished completely the moment he tallied the spoils and prisoners and prepared to divide the spoils among the various factions that had joined the battle. All that remained was cold calculation.

Though most of the Red Eyebrows had still managed to flee to the southern bank, this battle had left behind as many as ten thousand prisoners. Diwu Lun swept his gaze over this crowd of starving wretches. They seemed no longer to be living, breathing people each with their own thoughts, but had become counters in Diwu Lun's hands.

"Too many prisoners."

That was the thought that arose after Diwu Lun inspected the prisoner camp, followed by a deep, inward fear: fear of the evil in men's hearts. In that moment, he suddenly understood the choices of Bai Qi and Xiang Yu. With over ten thousand people gathered together, if they rose up in revolt again, it would be a festering sore far more troublesome than a pitched battle.

Last month, when he crushed the Five Towers bandits, Diwu Lun had not kept a single one alive. That was because the Red Eyebrows, a great enemy, were at his flank. Keeping those bandits would have meant huge trouble if they collaborated from within and without.

But now, with Chi Zhaoping throwing herself into the river and the "Great River Red Eyebrows" scattering like birds and beasts, the threat was lifted. Though there were hidden dangers, Diwu Lun still wanted to keep the prisoners to supplement the labor force for the spring plowing next year.

"But I can't let them all stay together. I still have to divide them and break them up."

So Diwu Lun had his men inform the Red Eyebrow prisoners: "You were once good, honest commoners from various places, driven to this state by natural disasters and man-made calamities. This is all the fault of the cruel officials in the counties and commanderies of Yanzhou. Now, if you can turn from evil and return to the right path, you can still become law-abiding subjects, eat a bowl of hot gruel, and work as tenant farmers tilling the land for wealthy households and soldiers."

"If any are unwilling, then with empty bellies, while the ice has not yet melted, cross the river on your own and leave. I will not stop you. But if you leave and then return, do not blame the sharpness of our crossbows and arrows!"

The crowd heard Diwu Gong's policy, but only a scattered few chose to stand up. The vast majority remained squatting on the ground in silence, making their own calculations.

Even if Diwu Lun kept his word and did not sink them into the river, what then, after they crossed back to the opposite shore past the countless corpses of Red Eyebrow soldiers who had frozen or drowned?

The main force had already scattered, each group seeking its own way to survive. These scattered remnants could not even take a small fortified hamlet. At most, they could occupy some little village and become bandits, robbing the destitute who themselves could barely survive, just eking out a wretched existence. One careless moment, and they would collapse dead and become food for wild dogs.

These people had followed Chi Zhaoping to Hebei in the first place just to stay alive. As long as they had a mouthful to eat, they would do anything. They had been tenant farmers and slaves in the past, had risked everything to rise in revolt, and now, after a great circle, they were tenant farmers and slaves again. It was rather laughable. But what was the humiliation of being a slave compared to the agony of eating one's own children? Those truly fierce and unyielding enough to throw themselves into the river alongside Chi Zhaoping were, after all, a minority.

Those willing to leave were driven out. Over ten thousand remained. Diwu Lun first had the able-bodied among them selected to serve as tenant farmers for the soldiers.

Diwu Lun kept his promise and distributed land to the four thousand refugee soldiers who had participated in this battle. The land came from the six counties north of the Yellow River in Shouliang Commandery. After being combed through twice by the Red Eyebrows and the Five Towers, the population of each county had been halved. Some had been swept along, some had fled and not returned, and some powerful families had even been wiped out entirely.

With the population so drastically reduced, much land lay vacant. Diwu Lun sent men to recruit those who had fled to return to their fields. If they could not produce proof of ownership and the official records were unclear, their claims were rejected. Even if there was genuine grievance, there was nowhere to appeal.

Diwu Lun also conveniently annexed the lands of many powerful families that had been wiped out by the roving bandits, refusing to return them even if the families still had surviving relatives. For acts like those of Wang Mo, Marquis of Yangping, who had arbitrarily occupied abandoned fields, he imposed severe punishment — for every mu occupied, ten had to be forfeited!

Thinking of it this way, the roving bandits and the Red Eyebrows had truly been his excellent teammates, doing all the things that were inconvenient or difficult for Diwu Lun to do himself!

This was all work completed last month by the clerks dispatched under his command. With the Red Eyebrow threat looming, the people of Shouliang dared not voice any discontent, and the resistance was even less than when land was distributed in Wu'an.

All told, two thousand qing of land were collected across the six counties. Now, after the battle, once it was distributed to the soldiers according to their merits, it was almost all gone.

On average, each man received over thirty mu (Han mu). Though it was a little small and the land was poor, it still filled everyone with joy. They felt this battle had not been fought in vain. If bandits came again in the future, they would truly be "defending their homeland."

As professional soldiers, they could only do farm work occasionally. Most of the time, they had to watch the river defenses and guard the dikes at the commandery border, so they had to rely on tenant farmers. Basically, each man was assigned one. Just as in Wu'an, although the land deeds were in the soldiers' hands, the fields could not be bought or sold, and the government managed them on their behalf, stationing troops in each township and village to oversee the Red Eyebrow prisoners as they worked. However, the land rent was also reduced by ten percent compared to ordinary landlords.

Diwu Lun thought to himself, "Let's try it this way for now. If the Red Eyebrows remain obedient, later on, as circumstances permit, we can induct them into the military pool and leave them a channel for advancement."

If they were not obedient and stirred up trouble, then sorry — off to Wu'an to mine!

Those not selected were in a somewhat more miserable position. They were assigned to the several dozen large and small powerful families who had participated in this battle.

Under the Red Eyebrow threat, these families had all donated grain and men, and had also suffered losses in the fighting. Diwu Lun did not let them come in vain. Based on the extent of their contribution and their enthusiasm in battle, they were allotted prisoners ranging from over a hundred to a few dozen each.

The future lives of these Red Eyebrows were something Diwu Lun could no longer guarantee. It would only depend on what kind of masters they encountered.

Although Wei Cheng had just won a great victory, the surrounding area was far from safe. More urgent than class struggle was uniting the majority of people in the commandery. At this moment, Diwu Lun did not even have the standing to discard his allies after using them.

The powerful families took away four thousand prisoners, leaving two thousand. The army could not be expanded for the time being. Unless there was a bumper harvest next year, Diwu Lun could no longer afford to support more full-time soldiers. They could only be escorted to Wu'an to expand iron ore production. After a major battle, weapon attrition was severe, and there was also a huge shortfall in iron tools across the region. The iron workshops would have to work day and night.

Leaving Ma Yuan to garrison Shouliang, Diwu Lun led two thousand men escorting the remaining prisoners westward. A thought suddenly struck him: "There are also quite a few remnants of the Wang Army working over in Wu'an. What will happen if we put the Red Eyebrows and the Wang Army to work together?"

During the great battle at Chengchang, how could they ever have imagined they would meet again in a mine tunnel? Truly, every encounter in life is a reunion after a long parting.

Diwu Lun had no choice. In an era of low productivity and scarce resources, it was nothing but relentless competition. The distribution of wealth could only ever benefit one side at the expense of another. Diwu Lun had exempted the militia and volunteer soldiers from next year's taxes and levies, and had given them the promised grain and cloth. Shouliang's income could not cover its expenses and relied entirely on Wei Cheng's financial support. If he did not embrace the slave system and had to pay wages to several thousand miners as well, Wei's finances would collapse tomorrow.

Wei — this land was far luckier than the disaster-plagued Tao. It had the defenses of mountains and rivers, had changed its Commandery Governor, implemented many new policies, and won several battles. The fields had sent off the powerful masters and welcomed the soldier lords; how many old faces had been replaced by new ones. In the workshops, molten iron boiled and seethed, casting swords and plowshares; new techniques were beginning to sprout.

Though the intensity of this was still far from the "heaven and earth turned upside down" that Diwu Lun longed for, it was still far greater than the Han dynasty's government merely donning the skin of the Xin Dynasty. Wei remained peaceful as ever, Shouliang radiated new life — it seemed everything was quietly changing.

But looking back, across the winter snowfields, the column of Red Eyebrow prisoners who had at least eaten a hot meal stretched out long, trudging and shuffling along. This was no different from the suffering and humiliation they had endured for years on the other side of the great river. Some were even worse off now.

Peer through that shallow surface and probe toward the root, and it seems nothing has changed at all.

Yet some things are different after all — for instance, the attitude of the powerful families of Wei toward Diwu Lun.

If after autumn, when Diwu Lun drove off the Li clan of Wu'an, the Wei magnates merely held him in awe,

then now, with Diwu Lun having routed the Red Eyebrows and returning with prisoners in tow as proof that he truly possesses the strength to protect Wei Commandery, the common folk celebrate having escaped calamity, bearing jugs and carrying broth, waiting at the city gate to welcome Diwu Lun like a hero — that goes without saying. Led by the Ximen clan, every powerful house is utterly subservient to Diwu Lun.

The shock the Battle of Chengchang dealt the world was too great; every province and commandery feared the Red Eyebrows like tigers. And Diwu Lun has shattered the myth that the Red Eyebrows could not be defeated — now it is their turn to look up to Diwu Lun. Even Ximen Shouchang, who once secretly tripped Diwu Lun up, came outside Yecheng to kowtow before him and praise him lavishly.

"Lord Diwu has routed the Red Eyebrows in a great victory — truly your name shakes the He and Ji rivers, your renown spreads across three provinces!"

"Only the He and Ji? Only Ji, Yan, and Qing provinces?"

The Ximen family's warm face met a cold bottom. Diwu Lun did not take the bait. As if inflated by a great victory, he smiled meaningfully at his dog-headed advisor Feng Yan beside him and said, "It seems if I wish to shake the whole world with my renown, I still have work to do!"

……

PS: Chapter 3 at 18:00.