Chapter 416: A Two-Pronged Pincer Attack

Li Zhong was a man of Qing Province. When he came to Xindu in Ji Province to serve as Grand Governor under the Xin, he needed to rely on the local power of the Pi family to gain a firm foothold. Moreover, he and Pi Tong were colleagues from neighboring commanderies, and in these chaotic times they moved in step with each other — only thus could they protect one another to this day.

But now, when Li Zhong saw Pi Tong, who had secretly infiltrated Xindu through personal connections for a clandestine visit, his tone, thick with a Donglai accent, was full of reproach: "Pi Wei Commandery, you certainly know how to run."

"I heard you left Xiaquyang and assumed you would come directly to Xindu. Who would have thought you would only send a letter back, then take a long detour south to submit to the King of Wei and become a lobbyist? Do you not fear for your family's safety?"

Pi Tong laughed it off. "Zhongdu and I share a bond where we would entrust our wives and children to each other. With Zhongdu in Xindu, he can naturally keep my family safe. What need is there for worry?"

Li Zhong had indeed covered for him, falsely reporting that Pi Tong's clan had abandoned their fortified estate and fled south to join Ma Yuan, when in truth he had secretly hidden them in the commandery governor's residence. He only grumbled at Pi Tong:

"The Sixing Emperor is deeply enraged by your departure without leave. He has proclaimed that whoever captures Pi Tong shall be enfeoffed as a marquis. Who knows how many in this city are waiting to seize you and present you as a trophy — and you still dare to come back?"

Pi Tong said, "Liu Ziyu is a mansion on the verge of collapse; his days are numbered. Would anyone be so muddled as to still throw themselves into his house, only to be buried together with it?"

Li Zhong did not like hearing this. Liu Ziyu had shown him great affection. When he first entered Xindu Commandery, Liu Ziyu had even untied the official ribbon from his own waist and fastened it upon Li Zhong, as a mark of favor. When the lord is insulted, the vassal grieves. At once, Li Zhong's expression hardened and he grasped his sword. "Pi Tong, if you have returned for the sake of your family, then for the sake of our many years of friendship, you may take your father, your younger brothers, your wife, and your children and leave."

"But if you have come as a lobbyist for the King of Wei, then you are Li Zhong's foe. Li Zhong has received great grace from the Sixing Emperor and longs to repay it with devoted service. To let a traitor go unpunished would be disloyalty!"

"Traitor?" Pi Tong laughed loudly. "The Pi clan, the foremost illustrious surname in Xindu, for three generations serving as two-thousand-bushel officials under both the Han and the Xin — and now Brother Li calls us traitors?"

Li Zhong could not bring himself to deal a fatal blow to an old friend. He only sighed and said, "Each serves his own master, that is all. My hero is his foe; my foe is his hero. From ancient times to the present, it has always been so."

"Not so!" Pi Tong was determined to lock horns with him. "Today I wish to properly debate with Zhongdu: who is the king, and who is the traitor!"

"If the name is not correct, the words will not flow smoothly. First, let us discuss legitimacy. The King of Wei consoles the people and punishes the guilty, raising an army of benevolence and righteousness. When he raised his halberd and gave a great cry at Hongmen, Wang Mang abandoned his city and fled, and soldiers and civilians prostrated themselves to beg for surrender. Since high antiquity, there has never been one who moved men's hearts and stirred the people to such a degree. He also raised high the banner of repelling the barbarians. At a time when the northern provinces hung by a thread, he dispatched troops to strike the Xiongnu fiercely, taking ten thousand heads and halting the barbarian incursion southward. This is the proper name of a true king."

"Look instead at Liu Ziyu — a mere diviner, Wang Lang, borrowing a name and exploiting the circumstances. Because of the selfish desire of the King of Zhao, Liu Lin, he suddenly became Liu Ziyu, son of Emperor Cheng of Han. He was a puppet from the start. Later, by sheer luck, he escaped and fled to the Tongma, using honeyed words to deceive their chieftains into trusting him, and using tricks like possession by Emperor Gao to fool the common soldiers into believing. At first glance it seems miraculous, but upon careful thought it is all deception. This is the false name of a brigand."

Pi Tong continued, "Second, let us discuss good faith and breadth of spirit. Though the King of Wei wishes to overthrow the various Han claimants, he does not exterminate the Liu imperial clan of Hebei. When Handan was breached, Liu Lin, in his madness, wanted all the Zhao-Liu clansmen to die as martyrs for the Han, even throwing children off the city walls. They were fortunate to be saved by the King of Wei, who released them and did not kill them — the height of benevolence! This is the Dao of a true king."

"Look instead at Liu Ziyu. Toward those who do not submit, he coerces them at every turn, even attempting to seize my family to threaten me, spouting things like 'those who surrender shall be enfeoffed, those who do not shall have their clans exterminated.' When a lord treats his vassals as weeds, the vassals will naturally treat their lord as a foe! This is a Dao-less brigand."

By the time Pi Tong reached this point, Li Zhong could deny none of it. Then he heard Pi Tong speak again: "Third, let us discuss the troops and military discipline. Under the King of Wei's command, talent abounds. The Left Chancellor Geng Chun, of the great surname of Songzi, a renowned and distinguished lineage; the Commandant of State Ma Wenyuan, a great magnate of Maoling, a hero of the realm; the rest, Jing Dan and others, are all the finest choices of the age, their backgrounds either the Imperial Academy or Filial and Incorrupt appointees and Palace Gentlemen — men who know letters and uphold propriety."

"His soldiers maintain strict military discipline. When they breached Chang'an, they did not loot; instead, they distributed grain from the Great Granary to the common people of the capital. On this campaign north to Xindu, provisions are transported a thousand li from Henei. Many starving people have gained employment as civilian porters carrying rations, and only thus have they been spared from becoming corpses of famine. This is the army of a true king."

"Look instead at Liu Ziyu. Under his command are all former bandits. The chieftains have all become kings — monkeys wearing caps, their status vaulted above you and me. The common soldiers are mostly vicious rural thugs. Wherever they go, they plunder the great households, demanding provisions, calling it 'grain requisition.' They do not even spare middling and poor families, binding and flogging the common people to extort valuables, calling it 'goods-washing.'"

Pi Tong spoke of what he had seen and heard in the northern part of Julu Commandery under his control — the very things that had driven him to abandon Liu Ziyu and submit to the King of Wei: "The Tongma bandit chieftains each seek out splendid mansions to dwell in, vying to abduct other men's wives and daughters for their debauchery. Any who resist are slaughtered at will. The houses they have burned are beyond counting."

"Though Liu Ziyu has ordered the army not to kill indiscriminately, the soldiers are separately subordinate to their various chieftains and none obey his commands. On this campaign south to engage the Wei army, they have no provisions or baggage train, sustaining themselves entirely by plunder along the way. Those men were bandits in the past; now they have changed their banners, but they are still bandits!"

"Judging by these three points, the superiority and inferiority are clear at a glance!"

At this, Pi Tong's tone grew anxious: "Zhongdu, though you are not a native of this province, you have been here for several years. Surely you, like us locals, have developed some feeling for Ji Province."

"Since the great chaos at the end of the Xin, Ji Province has been ravaged by war on all sides. For over a year there has been no plowing or planting. People starve, leaning against walls. On my journey south and back north, all along the way I have seen the tragedy of cannibalism already beginning. This is also why the Tongma army has grown ever larger, even claiming a host of a million."

"But the Tongma will only bring Ji Province greater misery! Beyond drifting from place to place and devouring the next region's provisions, they are capable of nothing else! The only one who can save Ji Province is the King of Wei!"

He had heard from Ma Yuan that letters had been exchanged with Li Zhong, but the man had never given a clear reply. Now, seeing hesitation on Li Zhong's face, Pi Tong pressed him: "What is Zhongdu still hesitating over? Do not tell me that, having once been a two-thousand-bushel official of the Xin, you are utterly devoted to the house of Han. A year ago, all under heaven believed the Liu clan would revive, but as things stand now, who still believes that men's hearts long for the Han!"

"When I was traveling south, I met Geng Chun. What he said was right! What men's hearts long for is not the house of Han, but stability! Whoever can bring stability to Ji Province — he is the sage king!"

Li Zhong sighed. The three points Pi Tong had made were all facts, but he touched the official seal and ribbon at his waist — the ones Liu Ziyu had personally fastened upon him — and said, "The one who can save Ji Province is by no means the King of Wei alone."

"The Tongma were once so fiercely unruly, like a river bursting its dikes, yet now they have been tamed by the Sixing Emperor."

"The King of Zhending, Liu Yang, was so arrogant he once intended to proclaim himself emperor, yet now he has been won over by the Sixing Emperor and has become a loyal vassal once more."

"So long as the Emperor can drive back the Wei army, take Henei to the south, and hold the Taihang Mountains to the west, he can enable Ji Province to endure this winter. With some reforms next year, given the Sixing Emperor's talents, he can surely restore peace and prosperity to Ji Province."

Pi Tong stared at Li Zhong in astonishment. "Wang Lang's deceptions are so potent that even Zhongdu has been won over by them?"

Li Zhong shook his head. "If Weibo were to meet the Emperor just once, you would feel the same. His bearing far surpasses the King of Zhao and the King of Zhending. None but a true dragon, a true imperial scion, could be like this."

But Pi Tong scoffed at this. Tricks to beguile men are like shadows flickering on a wall. Even a short man can cast a giant shadow, flailing his claws and baring his fangs to seize advantage. Yet when the blazing sun shines directly upon it, that giant shadow will disperse, shrinking smaller and smaller, until it reveals its true form!

He had been to the Wei army's encampment. He believed that Diwu Lun and Ma Yuan possessed the power to secure victory!

"Zhongdu, in this battle, the Wei army is certain to win."

"Oh? I would not be so sure."

Li Zhong thought otherwise. The Tongma's King of Julu, Sun Deng, and the Marquis of Changcheng, Liu Zhi, were stationed south of Xindu City with over thirty thousand men. Meanwhile, the Red Eyebrows of Qing Province had accepted the seal and ribbon of the Sixing Emperor, and the forces of Chengtou Zilu were advancing westward. With several times the troop strength, they would encircle Ma Yuan in a two-pronged pincer attack...

But just at that moment, a clamor arose from the pitch-black compound outside. Li Zhong frowned and went out to look. It was a military clerk from the city wall, come to report: "Chancellor, the Wei army is attacking!"

Li Zhong was greatly startled. Ma Yuan's main camp was a full day's march from here. "Is it a small scouting party, or a large force?"

"It is a great army — impossible to count, over ten thousand soldiers."

Ma Yuan, with inferior numbers, was actually launching an offensive against Xindu on his own initiative? This was something Li Zhong had not anticipated. When he returned inside and questioned him, Pi Tong also looked utterly bewildered. He could not help but sneer: "Wei Commandery, you didn't know either? It seems this General Ma has cast you in the role of Li Yiji!"

Liu Bang's advisor Li Yiji had once lobbied the Tian brothers to surrender on behalf of the Han — those were Diwu Lun's own ancestors. Just as negotiations were nearly settled, Han Xin suddenly launched an attack, leading the Tian brothers to believe Li Yiji had deceived them. In a rage, they had him boiled alive.

Although Li Zhong would not go so far as to boil his friend in anger, Pi Tong was indeed somewhat embarrassed, even a little vexed. "You were the one who sent me to Xindu to persuade Li Zhong to surrender, and now you are the one attacking without a word of warning. General Ma, what are you trying to do?"

But after thinking it over, he let it go. Judging from the incident of Ma Yuan eating pufferfish, this was a ruthless man who did not value even his own life — how could he be expected to care about anyone else's? As the commanding general of a front, when and where to attack was naturally his decision alone.

"Zhongdu, wait!"

Li Zhong was hurrying to leave but was called back by Pi Tong. He turned around to see his old friend pull a dagger from his bosom — because of their trust, when Li Zhong had allowed Pi Tong in, he had not even had him searched.

The cold, gleaming blade tip was aimed at Li Zhong, as cold as the look in Pi Tong's eyes. Li Zhong had not expected this turn of events and merely sneered: "Wei Commandery, your persuasion having failed, you now mean to assassinate me? It seems you truly intend to play the part of Li Yiji!"

These words carried a double meaning. When Li Yiji surrendered to Liu Bang, he had lobbied the Qin dynasty's County Magistrate of Chenliu on Liu Bang's behalf. The magistrate did not agree, and so his old friend Li Yiji rose in the middle of the night, cut off his head, and presented it as a tribute.

And Li Yiji's son, Li Ji, later became even more famous for the allusion "Li Sheng Betrays a Friend."

The chance to reenact that tale was right before his eyes, but Pi Tong merely laughed, reversed his grip, aimed the blade tip at himself, and handed the hilt to Li Zhong.

"The power to choose still rests in Zhongdu's hands!"

"But Zhongdu must think clearly. What you hold in your hands is not merely the life, honor, and disgrace of one man, but also the rise or fall of Xindu, and the survival or doom of a million souls in Ji Province!"

Li Zhong did not take the dagger, nor did he kill Pi Tong. He simply turned around, left him in the room, and strode into the courtyard with his sword in hand, shouting orders in a great voice: "Muster the troops! Follow me to the city wall!"

"Prepare to strike the 'traitors'!"

In the outskirts of Xindu City, war drums pounded through the night sky, wild and urgent. The moment the Marquis of Changcheng, Liu Zhi, received word, he scrambled out of his bed, which had not even warmed yet, and ordered the assembly drums beaten.

The two thousand or so Changcheng soldiers under Liu Zhi's command had undergone long training in these chaotic times and maintained some semblance of order. Their armor and weapons were all supplied by their own estates. Yet faced with a hasty enemy assault, they were still thrown into flustered confusion. Men and horses stumbled about in the pre-dawn chill. Over a hundred riders vaulted onto their snorting warhorses one after another, while the infantry tightened their belts as they ran, their scabbards clanging noisily against their armored skirts.

By the time Liu Zhi emerged from his camp in full armor, the Tongma's great encampment was still in utter chaos. Some camps had even caught fire in the panic — fortunate that daybreak was near, for in pitch darkness, a camp panic could easily have erupted.

The King of Julu, Sun Deng, his face full of alarm, sent a man to demand of Liu Zhi what was happening. The messenger's breath reeked of alcohol the moment he opened his mouth. Liu Zhi even glimpsed the silhouette of a woman in his tent — certainly not a wife he had brought along, but most likely some woman abducted along the way for his pleasure.

For the sake of the Great Han and the Gengshi Emperor, Liu Zhi suppressed his anger: "Ma Yuan's main army is upon us — our scouts posted twenty li out detected them. The Wei army is now less than eight li away!"

"The scouts report that the Wei army has already deployed into formation on the plain and is advancing slowly. They will arrive in half a shichen at most."

Sun Deng was stunned, then cursed and swore as he hurriedly urged the troops to assemble.

By the time the Copper Horse soldiers had finally poured out of camp in disorder and hastily formed a ragged line that barely qualified as a formation, the morning sun had already risen above the horizon. And appearing together with the dazzling sunrise, besides the Wei banners streaming atop their tall poles…

…was a field of yellow scarves stretching as far as the eye could see!

Since the King of Wei had not yet determined what virtue his dynasty truly embodied — was it metal or wood? — and regardless of whether they would later switch to blue headbands or green scarves, for now they still followed the old custom and used the yellow scarf as their emblem.

Ma Yuan had also wrapped a strip around his helmet. Riding forward with his horse pressed among the ranks, he gazed into the distance at the Copper Horse army before Xindu, whose sweet dreams he had so rudely disturbed, and laughed:

"They plan to join forces with Cheng Tou Zilu and catch me in a pincer?"

"Who is pinning whom — that remains to be seen!"