Chapter 400: A Han in the East

PS: (Added afterward; not counted toward the paid word count.

The author sometimes has emotions about a certain character — of course I do, I'm no saint, and I unconsciously vent those feelings onto the character. Yesterday I argued with a reader, let it out, and the anger subsided. From now on I'll rein in that kind of dimensional interference.

But every character has their own nature and follows their own script according to their character design — some paths go left, some right, some circumstances rise, some fall. The Duke of Zhou could hold fast till the clouds parted and the sun came out; I too will return fate to Jingtong. What the future holds depends on his own fortune.)

…

As Feng Yan accompanied the King of Wei's traveling retinue toward Henei, his carriage overturned crossing the Taihang Mountains. He was not seriously hurt, but he did injure his back.

Diwu Lun rather valued Feng Yan as a catfish stirring up the court, so he ordered the imperial physician to treat his injury and granted him a long leave, sparing him from the rigors of traveling with the retinue. Feng Yan happened to have some things on his mind as well, so he took leave and went to Shangdang.

The debate a few days earlier over entering Luo had left Feng Yan thoroughly dejected. He believed the strategy he had proposed was correct. The King of Wei was now beset by enemies on all sides, fighting on multiple fronts — even the temporarily peaceful Long and Shu directions could not be taken lightly. Entering Luo meant dividing the army yet again. Even though the terrain around Luoyang offered natural defenses of mountains and rivers, holding it would require committing at least ten to twenty thousand men. And if they tried to govern it, the grain poured in would be a bottomless pit.

If you asked Feng Yan, the most cost-effective course was simply to ignore the lives of those several hundred thousand people — wasn't that just like abandoning Chang'an in the first place, and hadn't that worked out fine? But alas, all the ministers had gotten carried away over entering Luo, especially Duke of Zhou Dou… Sigh. Although Henei was rich and the autumn harvest was imminent — Geng Chun boasted he could collect four million dan — even if they poured out all of Henei's grain, it still wouldn't be enough to fill the bellies of the famine victims of the Central Plains. Once this floodgate was opened and disaster refugees from every region poured into Luoyang, what were they supposed to do?

Now that he had some leisure to reflect, he realized that ever since returning from his mission to Shu, the King of Wei had not placed the same trust in him. Although his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs remained unchanged and his stipend households had even increased by two or three hundred, on matters of decision-making, Feng Yan could no longer intervene. All he had left was the right to offer advice, and even that was often not adopted.

Although after every council meeting, the King of Wei would soothe him with a few words, encouraging Feng Yan to keep up the effort next time. But there was a limit to how many times that could happen. Feng Yan still felt somewhat aggrieved, and he also realized he was drifting further and further from his goal of becoming "Right Chancellor." Full of indignation, he very much wanted to find a friend to talk it over with — but it was only at this moment that Feng Yan discovered…

He had no friends!

Whether civil officials or military officers, Feng Yan had failed to get along with anyone. He had clashed with Cen Peng and Dou Rong, and he and Diqi Biao held each other in mutual contempt. The newly promoted Palace Gentlemen also avoided him, finding Master Feng eccentric and difficult to get along with. Even Ren Guang, who had once treated him with courtesy, now showed him no pleasant expression.

And the one man with whom he had once shared a bond of life and death, Bao Yong, had already taken his own life out of loyalty to the fallen Han.

After mulling it over, Feng Yan decided not to return to Chang'an to recuperate. He went only to Shangdang Commandery to visit Bao Yong's grave once more — and there he encountered an old acquaintance.

The Governor of Shangdang was named Tian Yi, courtesy name Boyu, a man from Feng Yi. He had originally been a subordinate of Bao Yong, but he had not held fast alongside Bao Yong. Instead, when Jing Dan's great army arrived, he had decisively surrendered.

Since both were friends of Bao Yong, Feng Yan and Tian Yi had some connection, but Feng Yan looked down on Tian Yi's character. Bao Yong's legs had been too stiff, while Tian Yi's legs were far too soft. Tian Yi had constantly curried favor with his fellow townsman Jing Dan, and through his recommendation had become Governor of Shangdang.

This man, along with Jing Dan, could be considered part of the "Feng Yi faction" — similar to Dou Rong and Zhang Zong's Hedong faction, or Ren Guang and Cen Peng's Nanyang faction. All were newly formed small cliques. In the eyes of Feng Yan, a man who neither joined factions nor formed groups, these people were guilty of forming cabals!

Yet on this return visit to Zhangzi City, he still had to rely on Tian Yi to host him. During the banquet, hearing Feng Yan drunkenly lament that his plans went unheeded, that he was growing disheartened and intended to retire and go home, Tian Yi, after listening to the whole story, offered this counsel:

"Jingtong, you must also try to understand the King of Wei."

"As an advisor, you need only consider whether a matter is good or bad, beneficial or harmful."

"But the King of Wei, as sovereign, must ponder far more. He must also weigh whether a matter is right or wrong!"

Feng Yan started, as if waking from a dream. Yes — a strategist of the Vertical and Horizontal school would never consider the political right or wrong of a thing. Should he, from now on, think a little more broadly?

Tian Yi, emboldened by wine, also hinted that Feng Yan ought to be a bit more perceptive in the future and not oppose everything head-on.

"You're fortunate to have met the King of Wei — only he could tolerate you. Had you served a narrower-minded sovereign, Jingtong, you'd likely have been killed several times over by now!"

In the past, proud and arrogant, Feng Yan would have scoffed at this. But now he was somewhat moved, and ashamed. He, Feng Yan, had regarded Tian Yi as a mere stranger on the road, yet Tian Yi treated Feng Yan as a friend.

But though he agreed readily enough with Tian Yi, when he sobered up the next day, Feng Yan thought otherwise again. The next time he encountered a similar matter, as long as he saw benefit or harm in it, even if the whole court opposed him and the King of Wei merely used him as a tool to provoke broad debate — Feng Yan would still speak when he had to speak!

It was not that he believed all the world was drunk and he alone was sober, that Feng Jingtong was the only clever man under heaven. Rather, Feng Yan knew himself too well…

Feng Jingtong endured the pain in his back and gave himself a hard slap across the face.

"I simply cannot control this mouth of mine!"

…

As the eighth month arrived, the one who received the grand gift package of the Greenwood's collapse was not only Diwu Lun and Gongsun Shu, but also the King of Liang, Liu Yong.

"After all, he's merely the descendant of a petty marquis from the Changsha borderlands — base of blood, no wonder his imperial enterprise could not endure!"

In the one year and two months since the fall of the Xin Dynasty, Liu Yong had been quietly amassing a fortune east of the passes. Nominally he submitted to the Gengshi regime to avoid being attacked by the Greenwood, but in practice he exploited Gengshi's inability to reach so far and hurriedly expanded his territory.

By now Liu Yong directly controlled Liang, Dingtao, Shanyang, and Dongping commanderies. His brother-in-law, Dong Xian of a Red Eyebrows splinter force, had taken Donghai and Chengyang commanderies. After the Red Eyebrows shifted westward, the Liang army took over Pei and Pengcheng commanderies and was on the verge of seizing all of Huaibei.

Liu Yong had become the greatest power east of the passes. It happened that the Greenwood had just been dealt a painful blow by the Red Eyebrows and Liu Xuan had fled — this so-called legitimate Han line had become a government-in-exile. Liu Yong, who had long harbored the desire to proclaim himself emperor, naturally did not let the chance pass. The moment he received the news, he immediately hastened to the north bank of the Fan River at Dingtao to prepare a grand coronation ceremony!

The choice of this location was highly significant. The Fan River was a branch of the ancient Ji River. After diverging from the Ji, it flowed northeast through Dingtao and emptied into the Great Wild Marsh. On the level northern bank of the Fan River stood an earthen mound rising above the surrounding ground — this was the very Altar of Heaven's Mandate where the Han's Exalted Emperor had been enthroned.

"Think back: after four years of the Chu–Han Contention, Xiang Ji cut his own throat at Wu River. The Exalted Emperor returned to Dingtao, rode swiftly into the camp of Han Xin, the King of Qi, and seized command of his army. Then, in the first month, it was right here that he ascended the imperial throne."

Liu Yong was quite self-satisfied. "Though I cannot go to Chang'an to pay homage at the Exalted Temple, within my domain lie not only Feng and Pei, the old homeland, but also the very site where the Exalted Emperor assumed the throne. Is this not the will of Heaven?"

But Liu Yong still felt this was insufficient. He absolutely had to raise his legitimacy still higher, so he dispatched men to "invite" the Kong clan of Qufu in Lu Commandery to come and endorse him.

The Governor of Lu Commandery was named Yun Chang, a capable official who, during the great Red Eyebrows tide that had swept through Shandong in recent years, had preserved Qufu from falling. Like Liu Yong, he had accepted the seal and cord of office from Gengshi. But now that the Greenwood Han had collapsed, Yun Chang, to keep the Lu region safe, naturally granted whatever was asked and quickly delivered members of the Kong family to Dingtao.

Speaking of the Kong clan, they had experienced their share of ups and downs under the Han and Xin dynasties. Although Liu Bang in his early years disliked Confucian scholars — even going so far as to urinate into their Confucian caps — in his later years he did read a few books. Before his death, he ultimately enfeoffed a descendant of Confucius as "Lord Keeper of the Sacrifices," and from that point the main Kong line held a hereditary title.

But their political status was not particularly high. In scholarship, they produced a Kong Anguo, who, relying on the lost texts found in the walls of the Kong residence, became a central figure in the Old Text classics. But as for a great flourishing in political status, that would have to wait until the end of the Han.

During the reigns of Cheng and Ai, natural disasters occurred frequently. Confucian scholars submitted memorials to Emperor Cheng of Han, saying that the reason calamities now struck the realm without end was that the court had failed to properly arrange the sacrifices to the former sage Confucius, thus provoking Heaven's wrath. Thereupon the main line of Confucius's direct descendants was duly elevated and enfeoffed as "Marquis Who Glorifies the Sage." Later it was further proclaimed that the Han would also institute the "Two Kings and Three Revered Houses." Since descendants of the Shang could not be found, and Confucius had said, "I, Qiu, am a man of Yin," the Kong clan was then further enfeoffed as "Duke Who Continues the Yin and Glorifies It," with a fief of 1,670 households.

The man who now came to pay homage to Liu Yong was Kong An, the seventeenth-generation descendant of Confucius. The moment Liu Yong saw him, he began, before the assembled eastern Confucian scholars who had come to lend their support, to bitterly denounce Wang Mang and Liu Xuan.

"That old villain Wang Mang styled himself a thorough Confucian, yet he did not understand how to revere the sage. He recklessly altered the system of the Two Kings and Three Revered Houses, and on the pretext of the shifting cycle of cosmic succession, actually demoted the Duke of Song, descendant of Yin, to a mere marquis! In name he honored Confucianism, but in truth he abolished it."

"And Gengshi, unlearned and incompetent, since taking the throne has neither returned to Feng and Pei to sacrifice at the ancestral tombs, nor shown reverence to the sage. He has granted no enfeoffment to the Kong clan whatsoever."

"I alone am different!"

Liu Yong set himself up as the defender of the Confucian Way and proclaimed he would set right the chaos and restore order. He re-enfeoffed the Kong clan as "Duke Who Continues the Yin and Glorifies It," increasing the stipend households to two thousand. At the same time, he posthumously honored Confucius as "Duke Bao Cheng Xuan Ni," formally establishing Confucius as an official state deity to receive sacrifices, equal in status to the gods of soil and grain.

For a time, the north bank of the Fan River rang with unceasing praise: "The Gongyang Commentary says that the descendants of a worthy man ought to have enfeoffed lands — how much more so the descendants of a sage! In former times, when King Cheng of Zhou buried the Duke of Zhou with the rites of a feudal lord, August Heaven was angered, and thunder, lightning, wind, and rain brought calamity. In the past, Confucius's temple existed only at Queli, and his descendants could not avoid sinking to the status of commoners. That the person of a sage should receive only the sacrifices of common folk — this is not the will of August Heaven. Now that Your Majesty has enfeoffed the descendants of Confucius according to his foundational merit, the state shall surely receive Heaven's blessing, and Your Majesty's name shall endure as long as Heaven itself, continuing the Han mandate!"

The Kong family brought the ritual vessels from Qufu to lend their presence to Liu Yong's cause. Seizing this heated momentum, the assembled Confucian scholars, generals, and ministers jointly petitioned to honor the King of Liang as Emperor. The King of Liang, following custom, declined — and only then, half-resisting and half-yielding, ascended the throne, donned the imperial crown and tassels, and proclaimed the reign name "Jianshi."

After the enthronement, according to convention, there naturally followed a lavish distribution of offices and noble titles. Liu Yong was no fool; he recognized the situation clearly and did not adhere to the ancestral precept that "none of a different surname may be enfeoffed as king." He was quite generous in handing out royal titles.

"Let Grand General Dong Xian, Who Aids Han, be made King Dong!" Dong Xian could now be fully satisfied.

"Let the former Gengshi General Who Subdues Difficulties, Su Mao, be made King of Chenliu."

"Let the former Gengshi Grand General of Water Management, Cheng Dan, be made King of Huaiyang."

These two had territories adjacent to Liu Yong and had long been exchanging meaningful glances. With the collapse of Gengshi, they naturally threw in their lot with the strongest power east of the passes — one that was willing to grant royal titles.

As for the next two, their power was even greater. Whether they would accept enfeoffment from the Jianshi Emperor was still very much up in the air.

"Let the former Governor of Lujiang, Li Xian, be made King of Huainan!" Li Xian had long since declared himself king. Now the two faced each other across the Huai River, and Liu Yong hoped that by extending a hand to Huainan, he could prevent the King of Wu, Xiu, from unifying Yang Province.

"Let Grand General Zhang Bu, Who Supports Han, be made King of Qi!" This Zhang Bu was a hero who had risen in Langya over the past year. He had followed Mother Lü and the Red Eyebrows, and after Mother Lü died and the Red Eyebrows departed, he filled the vacuum in the Qi region. Seizing the chaos of the realm, he had raised a force of his own. By now he had taken the six commanderies of Langya, Jiaodong, Donglai, Beihai, Zichuan, and Linzi, facing Liu Yong's power across Mount Tai. In hard strength he was not inferior to Liu Yong.

But Liu Yong still hoped to lower his posture and win Zhang Bu over with a royal title.

The shape of the realm was now very clear. With the Greenwood Han and the Northern Han having collapsed from external and internal causes, the King of Wei, Diwu Lun, had become the strongest power under Heaven, occupying the best territory. Liu Yong and Gongsun Shu belonged to the second tier, while the rest fell to the third.

Among them was one oddity: the Red Eyebrow Army, entrenched in Runan and Nanyang, was not to be underestimated — they had actually gone in for some kind of republic, and were the sworn enemies of the powerful clans and the Liu surname. If they did not unite to resist, they feared they would be picked off one by one. Liu Yong hoped to draw every faction in, forming a joint coalition to oppose the King of Wei and the Red Eyebrows.

Liu Yong was a cut above Liu Xuan; he would not loose his hawk until he saw the hare. He did not hand out princely titles recklessly, granting them only to those with real power. As for the last royal title, it was the key to whether he could unify the lands east of the passes and become the sole Han emperor.

"The former Gengshi Bearer of the Gilded Mace, King of Wu Liu Xiu, is hereby re-titled King of Yue!"

By early the eighth month, Diwu Lun had already moved his traveling court here, making preparations to enter Luoyang.

He had also recovered from his initial shock at hearing the word "republic." The Red Eyebrows had set up a "Five-Duke Republic," which did not seem to be the same thing as in later ages, so he was slightly reassured. But Diwu Lun grew even more curious about the Red Eyebrows, and ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Office of the Rectifier to dispatch extra men to gather more details.

Spies were to be increased among the other factions as well, and soon a major piece of news arrived: Liu Yong had declared himself emperor!

"A Han has just been snuffed out in the south, and now another Han has sprung up in the east."

Diwu Lun could not even be bothered to count how many Hans there were under heaven now. Almost enough for two tables of mahjong, wasn't it?

By convention, the intelligence bureaus run by Huang Chang and Zhang Yu had to give this new Han a proper code name. They proposed "Eastern Han" — it was in the east, after all.

But Diwu Lun rejected the name. "Better to call it Liang Han..."

He smiled and added a cryptic remark.

"As for Eastern Han — that one's already taken!"