Chapter 341: Changyang

Wei Ao was the polar opposite of Diwu Lun's previous opponent, Liu Bosheng. Some called him "benevolent and generous but irresolute" — he looked ahead and behind at every step, and was easily swayed by those around him. He had no intention of marching east, but his uncle Wei Cui and the pro-war faction were itching for action, so Wei Ao reluctantly agreed.

Yet now, at the moment of withdrawal, Wei Ao revealed the ruthless streak buried in his bones.

When the Longyou troops pulled back west to Wugong County, the powerful families who had come to pledge allegiance, greeting him with kettles of drink, suddenly grew frantic. They crowded before Wei Ao, blocking his path and refusing to let him leave.

"Grand General, you cannot abandon us!"

"If the prominent families of Weinan join forces, we can muster several thousand retainers for the Grand General to command. Turn back and fight Diwu Lun's pursuing troops — meet a weary foe at ease, and a great victory is certain!"

Wei Ao merely shed tears and told them: "The common folk have followed me so long — how could I bear to abandon them? This withdrawal is merely a feint."

The great clansmen, Su Hui and the others, looked at one another. So hasty — this "feint" looked far too genuine.

Wei Ao said: "Gentlemen, you must understand: the Wei army occupies the lands north of Chang'an, duping foolish peasants into serving as soldiers, so my cavalry cannot penetrate deep to burn their fodder. And if our main force rashly advances east, I fear Chang'an will become a battlefield of ruins, harming innocent common folk."

"Therefore, it is better to feign a retreat and lure the enemy into pursuit."

Wei Ao had already arranged everything: "Gentlemen, take your retainers and lie in ambush within the vast Shanglin Park. When the Wei army reaches the Zhouzhi area in pursuit, I shall wheel the main army around and strike back, while you sally forth from Shanglin. A pincer attack from front and rear — the Wei army can be shattered!"

By every possible argument he persuaded the powerful families to go back. To win them over, Wei Ao recognized the division of Shanglin Park that Liu Bosheng had granted them. Shanglin stretched three hundred li, with palaces, gardens, and hunting enclosures, and each family had secretly stored grain on the territory they occupied — enough to hold out for a long time.

After the men had left, Wang Zun of Baling asked: "Grand General, do you truly intend to lure the enemy and counterattack?"

Wei Ao did not answer directly. He only said: "Diwu Lun sent Geng Bozhao over the mountains to strike Qian County and sever the Longban Road. Now he has begun pursuit on both the south and north banks of the Wei, without the slightest hesitation. This is no coincidence. In my view, he means to trap and annihilate our army east of Long, settling the matter once and for all. We must fall back to Chencang, join forces with my uncle — only then will we have the strength to fight."

As for these powerful-family armed bands…

Wei Ao did not trust them. When the wind was at their backs, they could help fight a little, but in a decisive battle against Diwu Lun's main army, they might well turn their blades for the sake of their families' survival, seeking the King of Wei's pardon.

"Better to leave them in Shanglin Park to block the enemy for a time."

"First, they can impede the Wei army's pursuit. Second, they will give Wan Xiu a worry at his rear."

Diwu Lun had sent Geng Bozhao to raid his rear — Wei Ao lacked that ability, but he could plant many nails in Shanglin Park.

"The Grand General is cutting off the tail like a gecko," Wang Zun said, feeling the pang of like grieving for like, and still resentful at the thought of abandoning all of Weinan to Diwu Lun.

Wei Ao replied: "I did not deceive them."

"If we can counterattack Diwu Lun at Chencang and win, the moment the situation reverses, these hidden pieces I have planted will prove of great use!"

He had said he would counterattack, but he had not promised whether it would be within days, or only after ten days and a month!

…

Three months earlier, Zhang Zong had forced a crossing of the Yellow River at Tongyuan, striking the Greenwood Army at its weakest point and turning the tide — one battle made his name. Afterward, Diwu Lun enfeoffed him as a marquis, with the title "Marquis of Yangquan." Though it was the lowest rank, a "thousand-household" fief, he had still entered the ranks of the meritorious and become a standard-bearer in the court for the scholars of Hedong.

He spent several months in Hedong recovering from his wounds. Once he was somewhat healed and the eastern front had stabilized, he was transferred with three thousand Hedong troops to the vicinity of Chang'an, under Wan Xiu's command.

But Zhang Zong could not agree with Wan Xiu's strategy.

"I have always heard that General Wan is cautious in command, the polar opposite of young Geng. Today I have seen it for myself."

Zhang Zong was not like Diqi Biao or Zheng Tong, who spoke their minds bluntly. Beneath his fierce and valiant exterior lay a heart mindful of the greater picture, so he only muttered to himself.

They had orders to pursue the Wei clan's troops, but they advanced only thirty li a day — because a great deal of time was wasted mopping up the powerful families entrenched in Shanglin Park.

Shanglin was thick with palaces, and beside each palace was usually a small garden. Liu Bosheng had parcelled out the forest gardens to the powerful families, and Wei Ao, to demonstrate Longyou's deep affection for the "common folk," had simply thrown in the attached palaces as well. After losing their fortified manors, the powerful families had fled here with their clansmen and retainers. Now, left behind by Wei Ao to resist stubbornly, many still firmly believed that Grand General Wei was luring the enemy for a counterattack and foolishly held out in the palace buildings.

But Han-era detached palaces, built for pleasure, could not compare to fortified manors designed for defense. Wan Xiu's troops had already taken down over a dozen large manors at Baling and Duling and were now well-versed in siege warfare — they could clean out one in short order.

Following the army were tens of thousands of civilian laborers conscripted from Chang'an, under Ren Guang's command. Every time a position was taken, the captives and spoils were handed over to them to be marched back, paraded through the streets in a show of might, letting the people of Chang'an know that the Wei army won great victories every day.

But Zhang Zong dismissed these minor victories: "The Wei clan is fleeing in panic — we should be snapping at their heels, tearing off more flesh. Instead, we are bogged down in Shanglin. By the time we reach Wugong, the Wei clan will have already withdrawn at leisure to Chencang. Truly, we are gaining the small and losing the great."

Wan Xiu, however, ignored his officers' complaints and continued his methodical westward advance. Yichun Park, Fuyang Palace, Wuzuo Palace where Emperor Wu of Han had breathed his last — from east to west, he took them one by one, mopping up the remaining enemy, until he finally arrived near Zhouzhi County, at Changyang Palace on the banks of the Wei River…

Within the palace grounds were several mu of weeping willows, which gave the palace its name. Its gate was called the Bear-Shooting Lodge. It was said that in his youth, Emperor Wu of Han had loved to come here incognito, galloping and shooting with his Feathered Forest Guard at deer, boar, foxes, and hares, and wrestling bears with his bare hands.

Now the Bear-Shooting Lodge was occupied by a powerful clan from Duling. They had once zealously served Liu Bosheng and were naturally marked for suppression. Bearing a hatred for Diwu Lun and Wan Xiu deep as a destroyed family and extinguished clan, at the final moment they still resisted stubbornly with a handful of retainers. After Zhang Zong breached the Bear-Shooting Lodge, they refused to surrender and madly set fire to the detached palace!

In an instant, Changyang Palace was engulfed in smoke and flame. The winter air was dry and the ground parched. The hundred mu of graceful, swaying weeping willows within the park had long since been largely cut down; now they were deadwood and withered branches, their forms twisting in the fierce blaze, like the ghosts of the Han deep palace returning to haunt the mortal world.

Wan Xiu ordered his soldiers to fight the fire, forbidding it to spread and consume the whole of Shanglin Park, but they only had time to cut firebreaks. Changyang Palace was beyond saving. They could only watch helplessly as the detached palace, with over two hundred years of history stretching back to the Qin and Han, crumbled into ruins in the flames.

Across the Wei River from Changyang Palace lay Huaili County. Diwu Lun had already moved his headquarters there, advancing westward in parallel with Wan Xiu. Now, seeing Changyang Palace ablaze, the Minister of Ceremonies Wang Long, who accompanied the King of Wei, could not help sighing with regret.

"The 'Changyang Rhapsody' — that was the work that made our master's name after he came to the capital."

Wang Long remembered Yang Xiong telling him that writing that rhapsody had cost him enormous effort. He had first spent three months polishing the words and phrases. And the moment he finished it, he collapsed in exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep, slumbering for three days and three nights. He dreamed that his five viscera and six bowels flew out of his body and drifted through the air, where he met his predecessor Sima Xiangru. When he awoke, old Yang Xiong was utterly drained, and it took another three months to recover — proof of the profound depths of heart's blood he had poured into it.

When the "Changyang Rhapsody" first appeared, it shook the capital, recited by ten thousand voices among the literati. And now Changyang was burning — what a pity.

The King of Wei, Diwu Lun, likewise a disciple of Yang Xiong, did not see it that way. Standing by the ice-choked Wei River, he laughed and said: "To my mind, it is a good thing this palace burns!"

"Wenshan, do you recall the deeper meaning of our master's rhapsody?"

Diwu Lun said: "In the first year of Yuanyan under Emperor Cheng of the Former Han, the Emperor wished to flaunt the abundance of Han goods and the multitude of rare birds and beasts before the chanyu and barbarian kings who had come south to pay homage. He conscripted over ten thousand commoners from Youfufeng and sent them into the Zhongnan Mountains for a great hunt — west from Baoxie, east to Hongnong, south driving into Hanzhong — to capture bears and boars, tigers and leopards, apes and monkeys, foxes, hares, and elk. They were carted in barred wagons to the Bear-Shooting Lodge at Changyang Palace. Nets were set up in a circle, the wild beasts loosed inside, and the barbarians were made to wrestle them bare-handed, while Emperor Cheng, with Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede in attendance, looked on and took his pleasure."

"But this greatly disrupted the farming season. Our master, having accompanied the imperial procession and witnessed this, later composed the rhapsody to address it."

Wang Long certainly remembered — he could even recite the passage: "Greatly did it trouble the farmers, for more than thirty days. Their toil was extreme, yet no merit was sought — was this for the people?"

He cupped his hands and said: "Your servant's view was shallow."

Though he said this, Wang Long's gaze toward Changyang Palace remained one of pity. Even if Emperor Cheng did not love the people, Changyang itself was blameless. From Sima Xiangru to Wang Bao and Yang Xiong, these Shanglin detached palaces had borne so many tales of literary grace — now they were turning to ash and smoke.

Diwu Lun added: "As early as Wang Mang's time, the black bears kept at Changyang Palace's Bear-Shooting Lodge were all slaughtered to save funds, leaving it empty. Yet even now, there are still plenty of 'bears and boars' in Shanglin!"

He meant the Weinan powerful families who, thanks to the "generosity" of Liu Bosheng and Wei Ao, had been able to entrench themselves and seize control here. Now, in the midst of war, they were being swept away in one stroke!

Diwu Lun laughed: "General Wan and General Zhang, wrestling jackals and wolves in Shanglin, grappling bears and boars with their bare hands — how magnificent! Wenshan, is this not worthy of a rhapsody?"

Wang Long assented and withdrew. Only then did the Privy Treasurer Song Hong, who had been listening quietly and keeping his silence all the while, ask the King of Wei: "Once the jackals, wolves, bears, and boars have been driven out, how does Your Majesty intend to deal with Shanglin Park?"

Liu Bosheng and Wei Ao had laid hands on Shanglin Park, setting a bad precedent, and so many men under the King of Wei were eyeing it eagerly.

Song Hong himself had no interest, but he knew that within the State of Wei, certain people were already scheming. If only the King of Wei would follow the example of Liu and Wei and parcel out Shanglin to meritorious officials and the royal clan to enclose and manage! Even Diwu Xian of the King of Wei's own clan could not stop thinking about Shanglin and had once come to sound Song Hong out — only to be driven off by Song Hong's black scowl.

Song Hong very much wanted to know how Diwu Lun would handle this private property of the former imperial house.

Diwu Lun countered: "And what does the Privy Treasurer think?"

Song Hong said: "The origins of Shanglin date back to the Qin. The First Emperor of Qin wished to expand the park, but was dissuaded by You Zhan."

"In the early Han, Xiao He once remonstrated with Liu Bang, saying that the land around Chang'an was cramped, while within Shanglin Park there was much empty ground, lying fallow for many years. It could be opened to the common people to farm for themselves, rather than merely growing grass and trees to feed birds and beasts. But Liu Bang flew into a rage, accused Xiao He of currying favor with the people, and threw him into prison."

"After that, Shanglin became an imperial park. Under Emperor Wu of Han, it was expanded once, taking in the territory of several counties. Dongfang Shuo remonstrated against it, citing three harms — and what he said did hold some truth."

"Shanglin has a mild climate, rich in rice, pears, chestnuts, mulberry, and hemp; its soil suits ginger and taro, its waters teem with frogs and fish. Even the poor could provide for their households and keep free from hunger and cold. That such fertile land, so abundant in produce, should be turned into a lair of tigers and wolves for the private profit of the imperial house — it is truly a pity."

Diwu Lun grasped what Song Hong meant and clapped his hands. "My view and the Privy Treasurer's are much the same."

In truth, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, enclosing Shanglin opened up even more farmland north of the Wei River, so the state suffered no loss. In a flourishing age it was unobjectionable, but now, in times of chaos, ecological preservation must take second place to keeping people alive.

Diwu Lun made his decision: "The ponds, the mountain forests within Shanglin Park, along with its gold, silver, copper, iron, camphor, sandalwood, paper-mulberry, and other rare resources — these, which supply the hundred crafts and sustain the myriad people — shall belong to the Privy Treasurer and the Commandant of Waters and Forests. Private persons may not extract them."

"But the level, open tracts may be opened up as farmland. That will yield over ten thousand qing of land. In these chaotic times, many in Chang'an have lost their livelihoods. I cannot bear to see them suffer hunger and cold. When spring comes next year, they may come here in great numbers to till and open military farms, providing for themselves." He was not giving the land away outright — merely setting up civilian military colonies.

Song Hong, hearing this, let out a breath of relief. This ever-serious gentleman, taciturn and sparing of words, still nursed some resentment toward Diwu Lun for tricking him into leaving Chang'an. Yet today, for once, he offered the King of Wei a word of praise: "Liu Bosheng and Wei Ao gave out Shanglin to 'the hundred surnames.'"

"But you, Great King, would give it to the real hundred surnames!"

"In his 'Changyang Rhapsody,' Yang Ziyun held that a sovereign should take nourishing the people as his standard — acting not for himself, dwelling in silent stillness as his spirit, taking plainness as his virtue. This I deeply hold true. As his disciple, Wang Long grasped only the surface rhetoric, but you, Great King, have truly grasped the real meaning of Master Ziyun's rhapsody!"

"I have always heard that the Privy Treasurer is an upright gentleman who dislikes flatterers and toadies. How is it that today you are the same? I have no taste for such words. The Privy Treasurer would do better to carry this matter out well for me."

Seeing Song Hong stand on his side naturally delighted Diwu Lun. Beyond Jing Dan and Ren Guang, here was yet another man he could use. He merely said, "Still, parcelling out Shanglin is a matter for after spring begins."

Diwu Lun pointed at the armies advancing west in parallel, north and south of the Wei River. "First, we must drive far away the tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, and elephants of Longyou!"