Chapter 279: Even a King Is Acceptable!

As an outsider, it was only now that Liu Gong suddenly realized the scope of Diwu Lun's ambition — but it was already too late. Their "Western Han" had already enthroned an Emperor and fixed an era name, planting an enormous target right in Longyou. Once the Greenwood forces entered the Pass, this "Yuantong Emperor" was bound to become the Gengshi Emperor's primary target, and there would be almost no room to negotiate:

Two Han cannot stand together. You are an Emperor, and I am an Emperor. I claim legitimacy; you rely on your greater strength. In the end, will you abdicate, or will I? We can't just cherish each other because we both bear the surname Liu, shake hands, and peacefully divide the realm, can we?

Diwu Lun had only declared himself King and voluntarily withdrawn to the north bank of the Wei, yielding the imperial capital. To those who had not yet seen through his ambition, this actually left him room to maneuver and retreat, making him a figure who could still be won over.

For Diwu Lun, declaring kingship was also an imperative. From Feng Yan's mouth, Diwu Lun learned that the "Western Han" had already overstepped its bounds, granting noble titles and official posts to the generals and officers under his command, distributing seals and ribbons wholesale. It seemed that although Longyou lacked the energy to cross east of Long Mountain for now, its appetite was not small — it wanted to use this method to divide and swallow Diwu Lun's power!

One must not underestimate the pull these empty positions hold over people, just as Wan Xiu, as an old friend, said in his blunt counsel urging Diwu Lun to take the throne: "Everyone abandoned their kin and home villages to follow you, My Lord, rushing into battle. Many did so hoping to cling to dragon scales and phoenix wings, to achieve success and fulfill their ambitions. Now that our achievements are modestly established and Heaven and men respond in kind, if My Lord does not promptly assume his rightful position, I fear the people will grow disillusioned, scatter, and then it will be hard to reunite them!"

It was time to issue shares to the founding team. Formally establishing a regime to rally hearts was urgently pressing, and given Diwu Lun's current arrogance and imperiousness, his kingship needed no one else's decree to maintain the superficial relationship of subject and sovereign.

Just as he had declared boldly on the night the army rose at Hongmen: "My axe! My battle-axe!"

"Shall not be granted by a tyrant, by a single man."

"But granted by Heaven's will, granted by the people's hearts!"

"I confer it upon myself!"

……

Under Diwu Lun's command, the fact that their lord was about to declare himself King had long been no secret. Diwu Biao's big mouth told every clansman and fellow villager he met, and the banner in Yueyang Station that read "Take Hexi, Then Declare Kingship" still stood.

Yet behind this royal title lay the covert struggles of many factions within Diwu Lun's power. Even before the official announcement, they had already formed cliques and quarreled fiercely in private.

Diwu Biao considered himself the foremost advocate for the enthronement and campaigned with great zeal. He went to massage Diwu Ba's legs, urging him to whisper in his grandson's ear. He also insisted that Diba Jiao recite for him the ancestral history of the various Di clans in Linqu Township. At the feasts for the clan's Diwu Pingdan, as well as Zhang Yu and Zhu Di — who were practically family — Brother Biao could even spout a few cultured lines:

"Our ancestors were the three brothers Tian Dan, Tian Rong, and Tian Heng. All were of the Tian Qi royal line — domineering, with a powerful clan, able to win men. Later they slew Qin officials, and Tian Dan set himself up as King of Qi, the title passing among brothers until Han destroyed them."

"Our clan was forcibly relocated to Guanzhong for two hundred years. Now, relying on our Patriarch's heaven-sent brilliance, we are about to declare kingship again. This is equivalent to the Tian brothers restoring their state. If the state name is not 'Qi,' that would be unreasonable, wouldn't it?"

In Brother Biao's view, as more and more "outsiders" successively followed Diwu Lun, it was necessary to let the latecomers know who was master and who was guest. This royal title — they had to fight for it!

However, only a few within the clan were bent on restoring Great Qi. Even their fellow villagers had no interest whatsoever. Led by Wang Long and Diwu Lun's old superior Xianyu Bao, they strongly advocated that since Diwu Lun rose from Liewei, he should be called the "King of Lie."

Wang Long had his own considerations: "The Qiongcheng Marquis and the other twenty-plus powerful families of Liewei are quite shocked that My Lord intends to declare himself King. To win their support, we should placate them through the state name."

His opinion was to unite the powerful families of Liewei — they were the true power brokers on the north bank of the Wei — and make them the foundation of the state.

Yet the latest batch of people to join Diwu Lun's power scoffed at this.

Li Bai, who had been appointed "Commandery Assistant of Shiwei" for exposing Tian Kuang's ambush of death-sworn soldiers at Dragon Head Canal, pointed out: "My Lord has established his capital at Yueyang. Yueyang is Shiwei territory. Shouldn't he be called the King of Yueyang or the King of Shi?"

Although the scholars of Shiwei had been the last to pledge allegiance, they were still eager to try, wanting to secure a place in the new regime. The man they regarded as their political opinion leader was, naturally, Jing Dan, who shared a deep friendship with Diwu Lun.

Yet Jing Dan shook his head at Li Bai's suggestion: "This is a quarrel over a snail's horn."

"In my view, why distinguish between Liewei and Shiwei? For the past two hundred years, both regions were part of Left Pingyi — we are one family."

"'Yi' means the intent to fly. Emperor Wu of Han had a poem that goes: 'The spirits come, soaring yi-yi; sweet dew descends, auspicious clouds gather' — that is its meaning."

Jing Dan was a clever man. Their Shiwei scholar faction was too small. What was the point of adopting a confrontational stance against Liewei? Could they win that fight? Better to merge the two into one.

So he stroked his beard and laughed: "Better to advise My Lord to call himself the 'King of Pingyi' externally, to confuse the various Han Emperors and show that we only wish to occupy the land of Left Pingyi, carving out a corner, so they have no time to bother with us. Internally, we can drop the first character and keep the second, calling him the 'King of Yi'!"

This was already lively enough, but one must not forget that Diwu Lun's command included more than just men from Liewei and Shiwei. Those who held the greatest military power were the two from Maoling: Wan Xiu and Geng Yan.

Ever since Geng Yan had swept through the Five Tombs in three days, Diwu Lun had placed him on the western front to guard against the Longyou forces, which at the time might or might not emerge eastward. For a while, the western line saw no battles, causing him to miss the Battle of Linjin. This frustrated the young man terribly. Just back in Yueyang from Wugong, he applauded Diwu Lun's declaration of kingship, but as for the royal title, he had no interest in even participating.

As for Wan Xiu, because of his knight-errant background, those who came to him were not the few Maoling scholars of Jingwei in the faction, but rather his old subordinates from the Boar-Rush Braves back in New Qin.

Zheng Tong, having pierced through Dragon Head Canal and avenged the humiliation of being blocked at Yao Pass, was now in high spirits. Drinking with Wan Xiu until drunk, he brought it up: "Lately I've heard people talking about calling him King of Qi, King of Lie, King of Yi — none sound good. I'm a crude man, but Guanzhong is Qin land, and we were all gathered by My Lord in New Qin. Why can't we just call him the 'King of Qin'?"

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it. At this, Wan Xiu slammed his wine cup down heavily and shook his head: "No! The word 'Qin' won't do!"

Wan Xiu had read a few sage books and knew that Diwu Lun could use anything — except King of Qin. That, absolutely not!

Emperor Gao of Han rose by punishing the tyrannical Qin and won the realm. In the very beginning, Han inherited Qin's institutions, and in the struggle against Xiang Yu, he also relied heavily on the strength of the Qin people. He did not wholly repudiate the Qin dynasty.

By the time of Emperor Wen, people began to reflect on why Qin fell so swiftly, leading to Jia Yi's "The Faults of Qin." At that time, the conflict between Guandong and Guanxi was still immense. People from Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, and Wei quarreled frequently over regional issues. Yet when these people touched on one topic, they were remarkably unanimous: Blacken Qin!

Concentrating the realm's hatred onto Qin served, first, to highlight the legitimacy of the Han house's acquisition of the state, and second, to heal the rifts between the various states and regions. Therefore, Qin had to be toppled and trampled under ten thousand feet!

Zhou's wickedness was not as extreme as it was made out to be. Thus the gentleman despises dwelling downstream, for all the world's evils are attributed there. So it was with Qin.

The Han dynasty blackened Qin for two hundred years. After Emperor Wu of Han, they even began to root out Qin institutions from the official system. The demonization and loathing of Qin had sunk deep into people's hearts, especially among the scholars, to the point where they opposed anything Qin — and it remains so to this day.

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Diwu Lun, who rose in arms in the name of eradicating tyranny, had ancestors who were neither Qin officials nor blood descendants of the First Emperor of Qin. Unless he thought his enterprise was going too smoothly, why would he need to use the character 'Qin' — which already represented evil and brutality — to dig a pit and block his own path?

For a time, opinions diverged, each harboring their own designs. Diwu Lun shelved all submitted documents without issuing them, saying neither good nor bad. What a rare opportunity — he was happy to use this to observe the divisions and inclinations among his subordinates. With the formal establishment of the regime, everyone's relationships would likely not be as harmonious as they were in the early days of the venture.

It was Ren Guang from Nanyang, who had no ties to any faction and seemed like an isolated minister, who looked around and guessed at Diwu Lun's thoughts. When the time seemed about right, he offered Diwu Lun a suggestion.

"People say, 'New friends are not as good as old; new clothes are not as good as old.' A state name is like a person's clothing. Splendor is fine, but it is not as fitting as old garments. I observe that My Lord's governance began on Wei soil. The Zuo Commentary says: 'Wei means a great name.' It can serve as a state name."

This proposal was drowned out in the clamor of the various factions. Yet what no one ever expected was that Diwu Lun would take a fancy to it.

"Boqing's words are excellent."

Diwu Lun said with emotion: "I raised troops on Wei soil, and you, my lords, have mostly held office and campaigned in Wei lands. A gentleman does not forget his roots. How could I gain the fertile land of Guanzhong and the north bank of the Wei, yet forget the hardships of our humble beginnings in Yecheng, the victory of blocking the Red Eyebrows at the frozen river, and the courage of eight hundred stalwart men marching west to punish tyranny?"

Ren Guang had put it well. A state name was, in truth, just clothing. When the time came to declare oneself Emperor, changing into a different set of clothes wouldn't matter. What mattered was that it had to be useful — right now!

So 'Qin' was impossible; it would only backfire. When picking clothes, one must consider the season and occasion. Wearing a sable coat in high summer — wouldn't that be hot?

'Qi,' 'Lie,' 'Yi,' and the like were too heavily tinged with clan politics and regional politics, too petty. Diwu Lun also discarded them.

But 'Wei' was also a region! Only it was different — it was the place where Diwu Lun had gathered his subordinates from different locales. The old guard — Wan Xiu, Little Geng, Diwu Biao, and others — had all, to varying degrees, served in Wei lands and had feelings for that place. None would have major objections.

The most important reason was that Diwu Lun's territory was not limited to these four commanderies in Guanzhong; he also had two more in the east! If his forty thousand new troops in Guanzhong were to face off against the fewer than ten thousand veterans in Wei lands, they might not even win.

The next objective of his regime was to "take all of Wei territory" — that is, Hedong and Henei. He had to let those old comrades, surrounded by hostile forces, know that although Diwu Lun had entered the Pass, he had not forgotten them!

Wasn't using "Wei" as the state name the best love letter of all?

"Besides, Wei is quite fine..." Diwu Lun muttered to himself: "In history, wasn't it Wei that ended Han?"

One day, "Wei Wu Wielding the Whip" wouldn't be bad either.

With the royal title settled, Diba Jiao and others well-versed in ritual and music were busy arranging the ceremony, while Diwu Lun also had to plan what official posts and noble titles to grant his subordinates. The time for lining up and handing out fruit had arrived.

Yet King Lun of Wei, about to go online, still had his heart set on the people in the east, even amidst a hundred pressing matters.

Geng Chun, his wife and children, and his father-in-law Ma Yuan.

"How are things in Wei lands now?"

……

In the sixth month, in Yecheng in Wei, panic had in fact gripped the people for a time.

Though Diwu Lun had left Zhao Pang and two hundred soldiers in Hedong, using wounds and sickness as a pretext to mingle in the post stations and relay houses, which also served as a transfer hub for messages, on the very night he decided to rise at Hongmen he had dispatched men racing east. Covering over a thousand li, they delivered word to Yecheng by the end of the fifth month, telling Ma Yuan that he had struck.

After that, however, because the Shiwei post at Puban Pass and both the old and new Hangu Passes were in the New Army's hands, Diwu Lun had to send further men by roundabout routes, and for several days contact was completely cut off. So much so that his trusted men in Wei had no idea whether his strike at the center had succeeded or failed, or whether forty thousand new recruits could possibly defeat the Northern Army's six elite, well-armed regiments.

In fact, at the start of the sixth month, when the shocking news of Diwu Lun's revolt in Guanzhong spread and the local powerful families and officials learned of it, wild rumors even arose that Diwu Lun had been defeated in Guanzhong and was already dead!

Once that word got out, everyone was terrified, but Ma Yuan kept his nerve in the crisis and simply drew his sword and cut down a clerk who was wagging his tongue about it in the government office.

"Our lord has already won a great victory, slain Wang Mang, and seized the imperial capital, drawing the eyes of all under heaven — how dare you babble nonsense!"

Yet at that time, Ma Yuan had been cut off from the west for days. He could only reassure his daughter on one hand while, on the other, he and Geng Chun, who had hurried to Yecheng, worked to align their views.

Ma Yuan laughed. "To speak an unlucky word — even if Boyu were to meet an unfortunate end, his son is still here. Why worry that Wei would lack a master? What does Boshan think?"

Geng Chun watched as Ma Yuan dismissed everyone else to confer with him, his blade still at his belt! If he uttered half a word of dissent, he feared only one man would be walking out today.

"That is only natural." Before Diwu Lun left, he and Geng Chun had arranged a marriage between their children. Even in the worst case, Geng Chun had to protect his son-in-law Diwu Ming and keep him safe.

"Excellent!"

Ma Yuan clapped his hands. "In that case, Boshan shall stay to hold Yecheng. The troops are already prepared. I shall follow the plan I made with Boyu: strike south into Henei and west into Hedong!"

The Classic of Mountains and Seas records a strange two-headed beast called the lei-bird. This creature resembles a hawk, but it has two heads — one facing east, one facing west — much like the current state of Diwu Lun's power.

Whether the western head succeeds or fails, their eastern head must open its jaws!

……

PS: Chapter 2 at 18:00.