Chapter 405: The Gongsun Emperor

The Liang-Han court feared that once Liu Xiu grew strong, he would become another "Ying Bu." In early September, Liu Xiu indeed found himself in Ying Bu's old home — Liu County, the capital of Lu'an Commandery (modern-day Lu'an, Anhui).

The character "Liu" was not as loathed as "Wu." After the Battle of Hefei, Liu Xiu did not personally pursue the King of Huainan south into Lujiang Commandery. Instead, he marched west to this place, with two objectives in mind.

"Huainan has been rich since ancient times, but the places with the densest population and greatest grain yield are, first, Shouchun, and second, this Ying-Liu region surrounding the Quebei Reservoir!"

Quebei, also called Qisipi, was a legacy left by Sunshu Ao, the prime minister of Chu, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. When he served as an official here, he channeled rivers and valleys, dammed springs, irrigated the fertile marshes, and built embankments along lakes to form ponds. The irrigated fields amounted to over ten thousand qing, creating a vast agricultural zone in what was once a wild and barbarous Huainan.

During the Warring States period, when Chu was dealt a crushing blow by the Qin army and fled eastward in panic, it established its capital at Shouchun and relied on Quebei to sustain itself for several more decades.

What Liu Xiu had his eye on here was grain. The autumn harvest had just ended, and before the rice could be transported south to Lujiang, Liu Xiu cut off the routes. At the same time, he sent men to besiege Liu County and seize the grain. He had to secure winter provisions first before he could move south at his leisure to take Lujiang and Yuzhang.

Liu Xiu personally oversaw the siege at Liu County and also dispatched Fu Jun to raid Shouchun and other places. Within days, the Runan notable Zhi Yun arrived to lodge a complaint.

"Does the King of Wu know what General Fu has done?"

This Zhi Yun was a famous scholar who sought to restore the Han. In the final years of Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty, he had personally gone to Chang'an, knelt at the palace gates, and submitted a memorial stating that celestial signs showed the Han dynasty's mandate was still strong. Wang Mang should take as Heaven gave and return as Heaven willed — abandon the imperial throne and give power back to the Liu family. This infuriated Wang Mang, who told outsiders only that Zhi Yun was afflicted with madness and had him banished to Cangwu.

After the Xin Dynasty fell, Zhi Yun made his way back to his hometown of Runan, only to encounter the Red Eyebrow Army sweeping into the commandery. Zhi Yun had no choice but to flee again to Huainan to take refuge, yet he refused to accept office under Li Xian, because this man actually harbored ambitions to declare himself emperor.

When Liu Xiu entered Huainan, Zhi Yun brought a group of local scholars who had not yet given up on the Han and offered their service. He was appointed as Chief Clerk Commanding Troops.

Today, Zhi Yun had come to file a complaint against the Cavalry Commandant Fu Jun.

"Fu Ziwei's military discipline is lax. His troops plundered the common people in Shouchun. After robbing the living, they even set their sights on the dead, excavating local Chu tombs, stealing grave goods, and leaving corpses exposed in the wild. The people of Huainan are all terrified and say the Wu army is worse than the Huainan troops."

Liu Xiu immediately understood what had happened. He could not really blame Fu Jun. The fault lay in the military order he himself had proclaimed to recruit soldiers: if a city did not surrender, the shock troops were free to plunder it. He had used this to recruit Danyang soldiers and river bandits from harsh and remote regions to fight.

Relying on them, along with Liu Xiu's own valor in charging the enemy lines with eight hundred men at the critical moment, they had been able to rout the Huainan army at Hefei.

This military order had not yet been rescinded, so the discipline of the Danyang soldiers and river bandits could well be imagined.

Zhi Yun was deeply pained by this and remonstrated: "In the past, King Wen of Zhou could not bear to see bleached bones exposed in the wilderness, and King Wu of Zhou would not trade the world for a single person's life. Only with such benevolence and righteousness could they gain the response of Heaven and Earth and defeat the Yin-Shang armies, dense as a forest. Since the King of Wu repeatedly declares that he raises righteous troops, why not emulate Kings Wen and Wu? Instead, you violate the prohibitions of Heaven and Earth, indulging your subordinates in harming people and destroying property, abusing even the dried bones of the dead, and incurring guilt before the gods."

"How is this any different from the Greenwood chieftains of old? If the King of Wu does not immediately apologize to Heaven and reform his governance, I fear he will repeat the downfall of Liu Xuan!"

Liu Xiu's subordinates all thought Zhi Yun was making a mountain out of a molehill — how else could they gather a following? But Liu Xiu himself was instantly jolted awake. He apologized: "Law originates from the ruler. Commandant Fu and the soldiers are blameless; it is Xiu who has erred!"

"Liu Xiu will personally lead the troops to gather the wounded, bury the dead, and mourn the atrocities, to show that this was never my original intent."

At the same time, he summoned General of Military Law Zhai Zun, who managed discipline for him: "Transmit my royal order: the shock-troop law applies only when the enemy stubbornly resists. Now that most counties in Huainan have surrendered, soldiers shall not strike when others are unprepared, push the desperate into calamity, sever limbs, strip corpses naked, or violate women!"

Only after this military order was formally issued did Zhi Yun let Liu Xiu off, nodding: "The great king recognizes his fault and corrects it — no good deed could be greater."

In truth, it was not that Liu Xiu had suddenly become kind-hearted; the situation had changed.

Previously, he had been in a weak position in his struggle with Huainan and had to let the Danyang soldiers and river bandits taste some spoils. But now that Huainan's main forces were utterly lost, as long as Liang-Han did not interfere, taking all of Yang Province was only a matter of time. Liu Xiu now had to think beyond "conquest" and consider how to govern.

He needed the great clans and powerful families of Huainan to feel that obeying the King of Wu's orders was merely a change of garrison commander, with everything else remaining unchanged. Liu Xiu had to play the role of a rebuilder of order, not its destroyer — when it came to destruction, could he outdo the Red Eyebrows?

Only in this way could the various counties submit smoothly and Yang Province be unified quickly.

The greatest taboo was to mortally offend both the upper and lower classes, as the Greenwood had done. How can two heads be cut from a single neck? River bandits were only a stopgap; in the future, he would have to rely on conscription and recruitment, and successful recruitment required the support of local powerholders.

But relying too heavily on the gentry was also no good. Liu Xiu only mused to himself: "I have long heard that the King of Wei, Diwu Lun, is skilled at dancing. Can I, like him, step on the two wheels of powerful clans and refugees at the same time, dancing with long sleeves?"

However, improvements in military discipline would not take effect overnight. Liu County still chose to resist stubbornly, precisely because they knew Liu Xiu had few troops. Just when Liu Xiu's prolonged siege was making no headway, a long-awaited relief force arrived from west of Liu County!

"The King of Xiping!"

Liu Xiu personally went to welcome his old friends and relatives. From a distance, he saw Li Tong, Li Ciyuan, galloping toward him on horseback.

"The Nanyang court is dead. Li Tong is no longer the King of Xiping, only the King of Wu's brother-in-law."

Li Tong prostrated himself before Liu Xiu, sobbing uncontrollably — regretting his past choices, yet overjoyed that this time, he had finally picked the right man.

To recount: when the Red Eyebrows entered Wancheng at the end of summer, Li Tong did not cross south with Liu Xuan. Instead, he took his family and clan troops and fled to the three passes of Ming'e. Relying on the natural defenses of a few counties, he held off the Red Eyebrow flanking force and preserved a remnant of Nanyang's strength.

Soon, Wang Chang and Ma Wu, along with Deng Chen and Lai Xi from Xinye, also went one after another to join Li Tong.

In early August, hearing that the King of Wu, Liu Xiu, was fighting in Huainan, the group conferred and felt they could not simply do nothing. They scraped together several thousand men, led by Li Tong, Wang Chang, and Lai Xi, and attacked Huainan from the west. They won several battles and captured three county towns.

But because their troops' morale was low, even with a battle-hardened colonel like Lai Xi, their speed could not match Liu Xiu's. They missed the Battle of Hefei and only arrived in time to rendezvous at Liu County.

Liu Xiu was naturally delighted that so many old friends had brought troops to aid him. But his generals, such as Fu Jun and Ma Cheng, felt otherwise. They still burned with indignation over how Liu Xiu had been sidelined at the Nanyang court, forcing their group to wander destitute through the Huai-Si region and nearly be wiped out by the Red Eyebrows. They also resented Li Tong and the others for not aiding Liu Xiu then, and so they watched coldly.

Lai Xi sensed this attitude. Always bold and aggressive, he could not stomach such humiliation. Looking at the high, thick walls of Liu County, he requested permission to lead the Lai clan troops in an assault on the city!

Fu Jun was unconvinced. He had only heard that Lai Xi was a relative of the Liu family. Seeing how young he was, Fu Jun doubted he had much ability, and so he contested the assignment.

Liu Xiu ordered the two to serve as joint vanguard. After two days' rest, they would storm Liu County with full force, each attacking one gate.

In the end, both the Lai and Fu divisions scaled the walls simultaneously. Liu County could not hold out. The powerful clans in the city killed the Defender-Commandant, and the entire territory of Lu'an fell.

In the past, Liu Xiu would certainly have allowed the Danyang soldiers and river bandits to plunder the city freely. But now his strategy had changed. If he committed further massacres, the other cities of Huainan would fight to the bitter end. So he pardoned the noble families in the city, taking only the silks from the government treasury to reward the army, and kept nothing for himself.

After this battle, Fu Jun had to admit that Lai Junshu was indeed fierce and valiant. When he further heard that, in Guanzhong, Lai Xi had once routed two thousand cavalry with two thousand infantry, he was stunned.

It was Liu Xiu who smoothed things over for the two, smiling as he took their hands at the victory banquet: "You are both my right and left arms!"

But there was still a difference between a left arm and a right arm. Under Liu Xiu's command, though he had no shortage of brave officers, those who could operate independently numbered only one and a half: Feng Yi was the one — he was currently leading a separate force to harass the King of Huainan in Lujiang Commandery. Deng Yu was the half — flawless in strategic planning, but quite mediocre in actual execution. Relying on him alone, it was still uncertain whether Yuzhang could be taken.

Therefore, Liu Xiu valued Lai Xi highly. More importantly, he and Wang Chang had fought against the Wei army! This would be especially critical in the future.

Those who had originally followed Liu Xiu into exile were mostly from Yingchuan, while those who now came to join him were Nanyang kinsmen and relatives. The Nanyang faction and the Yingchuan faction were as distinct as Jing and Wei rivers — it was now up to Liu Xiu to manage them.

The covert struggle between these two factions soon became apparent.

Now that Lu'an was taken, Li Tong, seeing Liu Xiu in high spirits, put forward the proposal he had been holding back for days.

"In recent times, the crafty minister Wang Mang murdered the emperor and usurped the throne. The imperial clan raised troops to eliminate the chaos and punish Mang, and so the masses pushed to establish Liu Shenggong to preside over the ancestral temple."

"However, the Gengshi Emperor appointed the wicked and sycophantic, slaughtered the worthy and good, drove away his great generals, and defied the will of Heaven. In the end, this led to bandits running rampant, and he was ultimately destroyed by the Red Eyebrows."

Although there were reports that Liu Xuan had crossed south with a few thousand men to the four commanderies of southern Jing, that did not matter. From the moment Liu Xuan abandoned Wancheng, his political life was dead. The Gengshi Emperor had passed away! This was something Li Tong and the others insisted upon.

Only in this way could they have grounds to enthrone a new master!

Li Tong bowed low before Liu Xiu: "Fortunately, August Heaven protects the Han, and a sage responds to the times. The King of Wu, with divine martial vigor, uses the few to overcome the many. In the past, Wang Yi's million-strong army scattered at Kunyang; the Huainan host of a hundred thousand crumbled at Hefei. The bandits of the Danyang rivers and lakes melt away at the sight of your banners. Han subjects entering the King of Wu's service are like newborn infants meeting their parents!"

"May the great king, with the altars of state in mind and the common people at heart, ascend the imperial throne without delay!"

Fu Jun was a rough fellow who could only say, "Me too." It was Assistant General Wang Ba, just arrived from Linhuai, who sensed something amiss. He was also a high-level intellectual from the Imperial Academy and immediately added:

"The great king and Bosheng were the first to raise righteous troops. The Gengshi Emperor relied on their foundation to occupy the throne, yet he could not uphold the great legacy. He corrupted the laws and discipline; bandits multiplied daily; the masses were imperiled. The great king first campaigned at Kunyang, and Wang Mang collapsed of his own accord; later he captured Hefei, and the Yangtze-Huai region was pacified. Now that the Gengshi Emperor has fallen, the imperial throne cannot long remain vacant, and the Mandate of Heaven cannot be humbly declined!"

Though they were competing, the goal of both factions was the same: they wanted Liu Xiu to become emperor as soon as possible! Only thus could they rally the scattered hearts after Gengshi's fall and give his followers something to strive for.

Liu Xiu knew what his followers were thinking, but he still shook his head.

"The mightiest power under Heaven is none other than Diwu Lun. He straddles provinces and holds territory, occupies the Sili region and both capitals, East and West, and claims to command several hundred thousand armored troops — one-third of all under Heaven is his."

"Setting aside literary refinement and speaking purely of military force, none under Heaven can withstand him."

"But has he rushed to proclaim himself emperor?"

This was merely a pretext. Liu Xuan was not yet dead, and the bond of sovereign and subject still existed in name. If Liu Xiu rushed to take the imperial title, his eagerness would look far too ugly. Moreover, once he became emperor and reestablished a Great Han, then he and Liu Yong in the Huai North and Liang territories would truly be locked in a fight to the death. If Liu Yong moved south to grapple with him, the one who would profit most was still Diwu Lun.

Liu Xiu said to himself in secret: "My elder brother once said: better to give to a thief of the family than to an enemy of the state! When brothers quarrel within the walls, they unite to resist outside insult. I must never, for the sake of fleeting hollow fame and vain desire, cause kin to grieve and foes to rejoice."

"That said, a state cannot be without its institutions. It is time for me to reckon up everyone's meritorious service, enfeoff them as marquises, and settle their estates!" Liu Xiu used rewards to steady the crowd, making them set the matter aside for the time being.

After the assembled officials had dispersed, Liu Xiu stood alone. Facing north, he raised a wine cup to toast his greatest enemy and rival.

"So long as Diwu Lun does not proclaim himself emperor for a single day, Xiu shall not proclaim himself either!"

"Even if Liu Xiu one day proclaims himself emperor, it will not be to meddle in the scramble for power and profit among the various Liu, but to stand against Wei the Fifth."

In Liu Xiu's heart, the royal enterprise could not abide a partial peace.

"Han and Wei — the two cannot stand together!"

……

Liu Xiu was in no hurry to proclaim himself emperor, but there was one man who lacked his self-restraint — he was in a great hurry, unbearably impatient.

The Brocade Official City in Chengdu, Yizhou, had not been peaceful the night before. At midnight, the chickens and dogs vied to crow and bark, yet a moment later they grew listless, as if suppressed by something. Some people even saw a faint light emanating from the palace of the King of Shu, Gongsun Shu.

And the next day, word was released: "Last night, a dragon appeared within the great king's palace!"

When the hundred officials came to court to offer congratulations on this auspicious omen, Gongsun Shu showed them the two "divine signs" that had manifested the night before.

On the palm of Gongsun Shu's left hand, the lines had actually shifted, gathering together to form three characters: "Gongsun Emperor!"

That was not all. From his right hand, Gongsun Shu produced an object — a jade seal with six intertwined dragons forming its knob, crystalline and translucent, held forth within the tent. Could this be…

"Indeed."

Gongsun Shu laughed: "The white dragon delivered to me the long-lost Imperial Heirloom Seal!"