Chapter 267: I Shall Be King

Their friendship could not be called shallow — both were recommended as Filial and Incorrupt, both served as Palace Gentlemen. When Diwu Lun was arrested and thrown into the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties, it was Jing Dan who rallied men to cry out his innocence.

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But times have changed, and Jing Dan still would only call Diwu Lun "General," never addressing him as Boyu.

The great army was encamped outside Yueyang city. Diwu Lun, in full martial attire, drank and talked freely with Jing Dan in a pavilion hostel, simply asking, "Sunqing, how many years has it been since we last met?"

Jing Dan recalled: "From the early sixth year of Tianfeng, when I went to Shuodiao Commandery to take office and you, General, resigned your post as Palace Gentleman — it has now been nearly five years."

Five years — "things remain but men are changed" no longer suffices to describe it. It is more like a hundred rivers boiling over, mountain peaks crumbling. Diwu Lun's status and position have undergone earth-shaking transformation, from a minor Filial and Incorrupt barely able to keep a foothold in Chang'an, to a feudal lord whose might shakes a region.

The one thing unchanged: he still could barely keep a foothold in Chang'an.

Jing Dan had changed greatly too. In the past he was a literary aide, a brush-and-knife clerk, inclined to refinement, even a little plump. But now he seemed carved by the cold wind-blade of the northern lands, a full circle thinner, his whole bearing far more martial, and the blade at his waist no longer mere decoration.

Diwu Lun teased: "Shanggu has the bounty of the five livestock — could it be, Sunqing, that you ate too little meat?"

Jing Dan laughed: "The wind and cold beyond the frontier — while I served as an official there, every time the barbarian raiders invaded, I did not mount my horse too seldom to strike the Wuhuan and drive back the Xiongnu."

"And this time, sent back by Lord Geng's command, I trekked several thousand li — first from Shanggu to Dai Commandery, then through Yanmen, Xihe, and Shang commanderies. It took a full two months, nearly covering half of Bing Province."

He slapped his thigh and showed Diwu Lun: "Look at this thigh flesh — all gone!"

Two months — that would be mid-fourth month, exactly when Diwu Lun was coming west into Guanzhong.

"A pity Sunqing arrived half a month late."

Diwu Lun said: "Do you remember when we were Filial and Incorrupt and Palace Gentlemen, witnessing all manner of absurd and unjust affairs at court? We too would wring our wrists and sigh, yet were powerless to act. But now…"

He raised a hand and laughed: "No need to suffer that foul temper any longer. This rotten Xin — I have overturned it in one stroke! Even Wang Mang has been driven away! Sunqing, does it not feel satisfying?"

Jing Dan of course remembered. Back then the two were close friends and spoke of everything, especially their endless complaints about Wang Mang — cursing Wang Mang for failing to pay low-ranking officials like them their full salaries, mocking Wang Mang's anti-corruption campaign for only pursuing foxes and never wolves. The more he tried to prohibit wrongdoing, the worse the wrongdoing grew; the more he sought to govern greed, the fiercer the greed blazed! And sure enough.

He had even prophesied: "When the court does not trust the Way, when craftsmen do not trust the measure, when gentlemen transgress against righteousness and petty men transgress against the law — that the state still survives is mere luck. One only wonders how many more years this Xin's luck can hold."

But what he never, ever imagined was that the one who would ultimately strike the Xin a blow and bring this court to utter collapse would be Diwu Lun!

He could not see it then — how had he failed to see it? When Diwu Lun became Grand Governor in Wei and invited Jing Dan to serve under him, Jing Dan had actually refused.

Now Jing Dan could only say with regret: "I brought only a few dozen mounted followers from Shanggu and was delayed along the way. I could not aid you, General — truly the regret of a lifetime."

This time, Jing Dan, as the deputy of Shuodiao, had been entrusted by his lord Geng Kuang, the Regional Chief of Shuodiao, to come to Guanzhong to observe the situation and, incidentally, help the young Geng gentleman escort his family dependents — only to encounter such a heaven-and-earth-shaking great upheaval.

Diwu Lun continued: "Sunqing, do you recall when we first met? It was at Diwu Hamlet. My own clansmen and brothers were at strife within the household — you even had a good laugh at my expense."

"And now we meet again, here in your hometown of Yueyang. This time, you return home in brocade robes!"

Jing Dan looked down at his own clothes, covered in dust and mud, and laughed in spite of himself: "General jests. I arrived bedraggled and weary — what brocade is there?"

Diwu Lun, however, said: "I have heard that in the time of Emperor Wu of Han, there was a man of Kuaiji named Zhu Maichen, who was always scorned by his village. His wife was so ashamed of him that she divorced him and left. Later, Zhu Maichen won Emperor Wu's favor and became Governor of Kuaiji. When he arrived outside Kuaiji city, he still wore coarse brown clothes and tattered garments, walking on foot to the commandery hostel. The minor officials were drinking and paid Zhu Maichen no regard — until his companion revealed the seal and ribbon of office. Only then did they stand stunned, the officials pushing and arranging one another, lining up in the central court to pay homage. They conscripted common folk to line the roads, and the county chief officials came to welcome and escort him, with over a hundred carriages in the procession."

At his signal, Zhu Di stepped forward bearing a silver seal with blue ribbon of the two-thousand-bushel rank: "Sunqing, though your clothes are old, like Zhu Maichen, once you don the seal and ribbon of Grand Governor of Shiyu, will that not be brocade?"

Diwu Lun remembered that although Jing Dan came from a prominent Yueyang clan, he was only of a minor branch. In his youth he had suffered no small amount of bullying, and had relied purely on his own effort, traveling to a neighboring commandery to be recommended as Filial and Incorrupt and make his way up.

To return home in wealth and honor, to wear brocade robes by daylight — who could refuse such temptation?

Jing Dan rose from his seat and declined: "I am newly arrived, and what is more, my status is still that of Shuodiao's deputy, a subordinate of Regional Chief Geng."

Diwu Lun laughed heartily: "Between me and the Geng clan, why distinguish one from the other?"

"Geng Chun, Geng Boshan, is my kinsman by marriage — we have arranged a match between our children."

"Geng Yan, Geng Bozhao, serves under my command and has rendered great merit. I appointed him Grand Governor of Jingyu."

And so within his small power bloc, one Ma and one Geng indeed held an outsized share. Diwu Lun had to strive mightily to discover and promote others — otherwise, if this continued long, it would be no good thing at all.

But for now, he still spoke without the slightest reserve: "Since we are one family, why speak as two households? This Grand Governor post — Sunqing, you are worthy of it!"

Geng Kuang had probably anticipated that Diwu Lun's entry into the capital might bring great events, and had specially dispatched Jing Dan to Guanzhong to assess the outcome of the situation. Let Jing Dan first take office under Diwu Lun, and with the four young Geng brothers added, Shanggu Commandery could only offer distant support — standing alongside Diwu Lun in neutrality amid the chaos of the age. That too would be a fine thing.

Diwu Lun added: "Sunqing, do not forget — when it comes to declining and yielding, I am the most skilled! Do not decline again!"

At this, Jing Dan seemed to recall something as well, and simply asked: "Then may I ask, General — in what capacity do you appoint me as a regional two-thousand-bushel official?"

Diwu Lun said: "As the Grand General Who Pacifies the People and Drives Out Wang Mang."

Jing Dan smiled and shook his head.

"Is that not enough?"

Jing Dan's expression grew solemn: "If that title were enough, why is it that beyond the three territories of Jingyu, Lieyu, and Shang Commandery, the commanderies of Guanzhong have responded to your proclamations so sparsely?"

Diwu Lun was struck speechless, then laughed and said: "Then in the name of a king — is that enough!?"

Jing Dan, however, did not answer directly. He merely pointed toward the nearby city of Yueyang and said: "Sima Qian wrote that Yueyang's terrain repels the Rong and Di to the north and connects to the Three Jin to the east."

"At the end of Qin, when Chu and Han contended, Xiang Yu divided Guanzhong into three parts. Yueyang once served as the capital of Sima Xin."

"Later, after Liu Bang openly repaired the plank roads while secretly crossing Chencang to seize Guanzhong, he too made Yueyang his capital."

"Sima Xin at that time was the King of Sai. Liu Bang at that time was the King of Han."

"And you, General — what king are you?"

Diwu Lun was somewhat embarrassed and shook his head: "For now, I am merely a provisional king — an uncrowned king."

Jing Dan's voice could not help but rise a few degrees: "Wrong! A true man settles the feudal lords and contends for all under heaven. If you are to be a king, be a true king — what is this provisional king?"

Outside the pavilion, Diwu Biao and the others heard it too. Brother Biao's eyes widened — well now, Jing Sunqing, you just got here and you're already urging him to take the throne! I was the one who urged him first!

Diwu Lun had once said: "What has the House of Han ever added to me?" Jing Dan's mindset was the same. The Zhao, Jing, and Qu clans were all Chu migrants forcibly relocated into Guanzhong. They were heavily watched and fared poorly under the Han. It was not until the Xin Dynasty that a high official emerged from among them — and Wang Mang sent him east to deliver the Red Eyebrows their first shipment of equipment and confidence.

Though the world took restoring the Han and raising the Liu as the prevailing tide, for Jing Dan, he held no sentimental attachment to the House of Han. And the man before him, whose roots and depths he knew thoroughly — that was the best choice!

He had originally worried that after several years apart, Diwu Lun, suddenly risen to power, might have changed. But upon meeting, everything was as before. Though Jing Dan dared not presume upon that bond, his heart was set at ease.

"Boyu is still that same Boyu — harboring great ambition, neither arrogant nor proud."

Now, Jing Dan's declining and yielding was a feigned courtesy; urging Diwu Lun to take the throne and declaring his own intent was the substance.

He had thought it through carefully: since he had arrived later than Wan Xiu and the others and his seniority was shallow, rather than have people say he rose by connections, it was better to make his very first counsel resound loudly enough!

Compared to Diwu Biao's ambiguous urging, Diwu Lun indeed took Jing Dan's counsel more seriously. He pointed a finger at Jing Dan and laughed, scolding: "Well done, Jing Sunqing! Good! Once I smash Tian Kuang and seize the lands of Hexi — I shall be king!"

Jing Dan gladly assented, bowed low, and said: "In that case, this Grand Governor of Shiyu — your servant shall accept it!"

……

Jing Dan was not surprised that Diwu Lun, having rebelled against the Xin Dynasty, still used the Xin's official titles and place names. After all, once they changed them, they would change everything back to the Han system. For now, they were just a makeshift organization, and until a proper structure was established, they would make do with what they had — not letting old Wang Mang's painstaking name changes go entirely to waste.

Since Jing Dan had accepted the seal and ribbon of office and was a local man, Diwu Lun discussed their next objectives with this old friend of former days.

"Wan Junyou may be slow to move, but he is steady and sure. None of Tian Kuang's ambush forces managed to gain any advantage against him. Right now, Wan Xiu has advanced to this point — Chongquan City!"

Advancing one step a day is still better than Peng Chong rushing in and getting himself killed. The generals all have different temperaments, and each has his own style of waging war. Diwu Lun pointed at the map and told Jing Dan: "At present, the Colonel of the Division has already seized half the territory. The remaining half is Hexi."

"Sunqing, you know this region well. Tell me, how should we fight this campaign?"

Jing Dan looked down at the map and could not help but laugh. "This situation reminds me of the Qin-Wei wars over Hexi during the Warring States period."

The land of Hexi lies west of the Yellow River and east of the Luo River. If Qin gained it, it could peer east at the Three Jin and advance into the Central Plains; but if an enemy state seized it, whether Qin could even survive as a state would be an open question.

Therefore, from the Spring and Autumn period onward, Qin exhausted every effort to expand into Hexi. First it fought Jin for two hundred years, suffering defeat after defeat. After the partition of Jin into three states, it locked horns with the State of Wei, which had inherited the Hexi territory. Over a century, they fought five great wars — truly, the valiant old Qin marched together to meet their nation's peril — yet still they won few and lost many.

"Wei occupied the eastern part of Guanzhong, precisely the Hexi and Yiwei regions that Tian Kuang now holds. The dividing line is exactly the Luo River and Zheng County south of the Wei."

Diwu Lun looked where Jing Dan indicated and immediately laughed. This situation — was it not exactly the same?

And the most famous Hexi contest of those years was commanded by the Wei general Wu Qi, who was said to have fought at one-to-ten odds and routed the Qin army utterly.

The Qin army of that time had not yet undergone the tempering of Shang Yang's reforms; its tactics were backward. In Wu Qi's assessment, "Qin scatters its formations and each man fights for himself" — a sheet of loose sand, possessing nothing but the reckless courage of individual warriors.

And Diwu Lun's army was an even cheaper knockoff of that rabble.

As for Tian Kuang, given his performance, which stood out like a crane among chickens among the Xin Dynasty's two-thousand-bushel officials, he could be considered a bargain-bin Wu Qi.

Jing Dan analyzed: "Though this man is skilled at commanding troops and once inflicted a great defeat on the Red Eyebrows, the reason he was able to rally over ten thousand men earlier was merely the hope that Wang Yi could win a great victory and return to rescue the throne. With Wang Mang fleeing south and the remnants of the Xin not knowing where to turn, even if Tian Kuang still holds the hearts of his army, his subordinates are bound to be shaken in spirit, their morale collapsing."

"What is more, my lord, you have one advantage that Qin of old did not possess."

Diwu Lun knew what it was. He looked north of Hexi, toward the highlands of northern Shaanxi. "Shang Commandery."

Jing Dan nodded. "Exactly Shang Commandery! This region is girded by the Yellow River to the east and controls Bing and Shuo to the north — it is a strategically vital place. During the Warring States, when Wei ceded Shang Commandery to Qin, Qin grew stronger still. That land externally commands the Rong frontier and internally shields the capital region. Once a force of Di cavalry rides south from Shang Commandery — it need not be many, a thousand horsemen would suffice — then Hexi's head and tail will be unable to look after each other. If Qin had already taken Shang Commandery back then, Wu Qi likely could not have won so easily."

Diwu Lun recalled that Jing Dan had always loved reading military treatises and enjoyed commenting on historical battles, but it had been mere armchair strategy. Over these past four or five years, having gone to Shanggu and practiced for several years, gaining experience fighting the Wuhuan and the Xiongnu, he had truly been forged. His analysis now contained not only tactics but strategy. Diwu Lun could only sigh with feeling — his luck was truly good, to have picked up a treasure… no, to have held a weighty treasure in his hand from the very start!

Jing Dan said: "At the beginning of this month, I happened to be delayed in Shang Commandery, and on this journey south, it was Lian Shuai Ma Yuan who sent men to escort me."

Diwu Lun's interest was piqued. "When Lord Ma learned that I had rebelled against Wang Mang, what did he say?"

Jing Dan laughed. "Lord Ma was utterly at a loss at that moment and cried out in alarm, 'Boyu, you have ruined me!'"

Ma Yuan had a tight mouth — this Diwu Lun knew.

The elder of the family had not revealed a single hint to his own elder brother. Ma Yuan had thought Diwu Lun was heading south to serve the Great Xin to the death and had felt considerable regret. When the news of his sudden uprising arrived, it stunned Ma Yuan completely.

It seemed that as the head of the Ma clan, Ma Yuan was still not as bold as his younger brother, the one who had turned bandit.

However, as the situation developed, the envoy Wang Mang had sent to replace Ma Yuan had just arrived when word came that Diwu Lun had swiftly broken through Chang'an and driven Wang Mang out. Ma Yuan then calmed down, and after analyzing the situation, realized that the Ma and Diwu families were already in the same boat. He could only respond in kind — kill the Embroidered Uniform Envoy as a blood sacrifice to the banners, and to hell with it, he would be a Xin subject no longer!

As for restoring the Han… at present, there was no Han around Shang Commandery to pledge allegiance to.

"Tian Kuang holds two commanderies and commands over ten thousand troops. He may also have been joined by some of the new soldiers from Luoyang who fled west. Even with Shang Commandery's aid, if we want to take Hexi, we still have hard fighting ahead."

Jing Dan offered another suggestion: "My lord, I could perhaps write several letters to the Sima clan of Hexi and a few other powerful families, urging them to surrender. Though these families are not as strong as the powerful houses of the capital region, together they can muster several thousand troops and are a major source of support for Tian Kuang. I am a man of the Division, and if I appeal to them on the bond of being fellow countrymen, perhaps…"

"You may write, but we will not wait for their replies." Diwu Lun knew they could afford no further delay and could not allow the Hexi powerful families ten days or half a month to waver.

"Once the cavalry from Shang Commandery arrives, we cross the Luo River." Diwu Lun rapped the table. After the campaign to take Chang'an, he had come to understand clearly: often, the path that seems easiest is the one that brings the greatest future trouble.

"Iron cannot become steel without tempering. The troops under my command need to fight a few hard battles!"

…

PS: (Alliance Leader bonus chapters 5/17)

Tomorrow's update at 13:00.