Chapter 425: Standing Alone

Songzi County in Julu Commandery, though not as bustling as Lower Quyang, had been a major city of Zhao since the Warring States period. The Yan musician Gao Jian once fled the First Emperor of Qin's pursuit and hid as a hired hand in Songzi; there he struck the zhu and sang, and all who heard him left in tears.

Because of this connection, the zhu became the favorite instrument of the people of Songzi, whose musical style closely resembles that of Yan — solemn, impassioned, and mournful. Now that the great clan leader Geng Chun has returned home and restored the county, the people of Songzi are on the city walls, holding bamboo rulers and striking the zhu in celebration.

Geng Chun looked up and saw this. Pleased as he was, he had the elders striking the zhu on the heights invited to come down.

"Don't forget how Gao Jianli tried to assassinate the First Emperor of Qin."

If, when the King of Wei entered the city, an assassin blind-sniped him and smashed his skull with a zhu, that would be a divine plot twist.

Since going to Wei Commandery to serve as Diwu Lun's deputy, Geng Chun had not returned to his hometown for many years. Now, as he led his army to the Geng family fortified estate, he found that the once lofty gates and great households had been reduced to a field of ruins. The ancestral graves outside the city had been thoroughly dug up by the Tongma, the grave goods plundered, the bones carelessly scattered and mixed together with the starved and the war dead.

The dead suffered terrible misfortune, but fortunately the living were unharmed — the Geng family had been gradually evacuated by Geng Chun over a year ago.

"Fortune and misfortune intertwined," Geng Chun said to his clansmen in the army. "Just as the King of Wei raised his troops at Hongmen, Liu Ziyu also proclaimed his own title, and even I received the seal of Imperial Counselor of the Northern Han. Later, when Han and Wei became enemies and the northern provinces were in doubt, with our clan so numerous, I feared you might harbor disloyal thoughts and make a foolish mistake. Therefore I moved the entire clan to Wei territory, to cut off any hope of turning back."

"At the time you were unwilling to leave, yet because of that you escaped this calamity."

Now there was no longer any chance of anyone grumbling — the situation in Hebei was settled.

The next day, after Diwu Lun also entered Songzi City and learned of the disaster that had befallen the Geng family tombs, he declared magnanimously: "Once we destroy Liu Ziyu, I will rebuild the Geng clan fortified estate for Boshan."

Then, as if half-joking, he added: "If Boshan is willing, you could change your fief and become the Marquis of Songzi — returning home in wealth and glory!"

Geng Chun, however, politely declined the King of Wei's goodwill: "Great King, your servant does not intend to return to Songzi."

If his family had once been poor and now was rich, then of course he would want to parade in brocade through his hometown. But the Geng family had been the de facto feudal lords of Songzi County in the past — coming back now, whom would he be showing off for?

Geng Chun felt no nostalgia for his hometown: "A tree moved dies; a person moved lives. When the clan graves were still here, my clansmen were attached to the land and unwilling to leave. Now that they have been destroyed by Wang Lang, it is better to seize the chance to move. Wherever the Great King needs the Geng clan to go, that is where my family shall go!"

This political declaration pleased Diwu Lun greatly. If the Geng family stayed, they would inevitably become "the foremost powerful clan of Hebei."

But Geng Chun had previously heard of Diwu Lun's actions in Guanzhong and knew that although the King of Wei was temporarily co-opting the powerful Hebei clans to strike the Tongma, he would certainly suppress them afterward. His own family, being "imperial in-laws" with many marriage ties throughout Ji Province, would only obstruct the King of Wei's governance if they remained here — it was truly inappropriate.

Leaving Hebei would not affect the Geng clan's wealth and status; staying would only entangle them in trouble with all manner of foolish relatives. Better to leave — that was the wisest course.

After the southern-route army garrisoned at Songzi City, a certain general also made a detour to pay his respects to the King of Wei — it was Wu Han, from Yuyang.

However, the Embroidered Uniform Commandant Zhang Yu, who had come from the eastern-route army to make contact, had arrived at Songzi one step ahead of Wu Han.

When Diwu Lun asked Zhang Yu about Wu Han, Zhang Yu was thus able to preemptively shape the King of Wei's impression.

"In the Hejian affair, both I and Wu Han were at fault, and my fault was the greater. Although it was the Yuyang troops who first provoked the clash by shooting arrows and my men were forced to retaliate, I, as Embroidered Uniform Commandant, am specifically charged with intelligence on the enemy, yet I failed even to ascertain whether the other side was friend or foe before allowing my subordinates to engage them in battle — that was truly a grave error."

As expected of someone raised by Diwu Lun, Zhang Yu's words were artfully chosen. Regarding the Hejian friendly-fire incident, which could easily be seen as "using public office to settle a private grudge," even though he was slightly in the right, he glossed over it and mentioned only that Wu Han had refused to accompany him to pay respects to the eastern-route commander Ma Yuan, instead acting on his own authority.

"Fortunately, Wu Han and the Yuyang shock cavalry cut off the supply lines of the Tongma eastern-route army, leaving them beset by internal and external difficulties, which did assist State Commandant Ma to some degree. But such things can happen once, not twice. The Yuyang shock cavalry, though fierce, are after all newly surrendered guest troops — they must obey the Great King's commands. And Wu Han, though talented, is also proud and unruly by nature, not easily submitting to others."

In this way, he said both the good and the bad, hinting at Wu Han's domineering nature. Diwu Lun, keeping his expression impassive, dismissed Zhang Yu and summoned Wu Han to an audience.

Wu Han had just rushed over from a hundred li away, travel-worn and dusty. Ice crystals were clearly visible on his clothes, which were wet in patches and dry in others, filthy all over, and even torn in places when he removed his armor. He had not had time to bathe and reeked of horse.

His features, at first glance, seemed honest and stolid. He was not tall — about the same height as Diwu Lun — so that even standing, the two could look each other straight in the eye.

Wu Han bowed slightly: "Your servant Wu Han pays homage to the King of Wei! May the Great King live ten thousand years!"

Diwu Lun personally helped him up: "Ren Boqing often spoke to me of Wu Ziyan, who once served as Precinct Chief under him, calling you an extraordinary talent. Ziyan, do you know how long I have been waiting for you?"

Wu Han said: "I beg the Great King to first allow your servant to confess his offenses."

Diwu Lun said: "You have rendered great service — what offense is there?"

Wu Han bowed again: "The year before last, the King of Wei sent someone to summon me. At that time, Wu Han was traveling abroad trading horses and so missed the summons. Later, when the Tongma rose up in Hebei and the roads were cut off, and I heard the Great King had gone to Chang'an, I therefore did not go south — this is the first offense."

"Last month, without an edict from the Great King, I appointed myself Governor of Yuyang — this is the second offense."

"At Hejian, in the deep darkness of night, I mistakenly attacked the Embroidered Uniform Commandant — this is the third offense."

Where was the domineering arrogance in this? Either Zhang Yu's words had been exaggerated by personal bias, or Wu Han, for all his apparent recklessness, was in fact meticulous and knew how to tailor his behavior to the person before him.

But as long as he was utterly respectful to the King of Wei, even if Wu Han looked down his nose at every other senior general — Zhang Yu included — it would be no problem at all.

"You do have faults," Diwu Lun replied, as if in jest. "But your greatest fault is that you only came today. Had you come two years earlier, with Ziyan's talent, courage, and keenness, would you be confined to a mere two-thousand-dan post?"

"As for the misunderstanding at Hejian, the Embroidered Uniform Commandant has already explained it to me. Commandant Zhang is magnanimous and took all the blame upon himself. Ziyan, do not take it to heart. In the future, you must share a cup of wine with him to dissolve the grudge and apologize to one another."

Diwu Lun clapped his hands and ordered the army cooks to bring some food. Considering a warrior's tastes, it was all hearty fare: "Once we've finished with these 'faults,' Ziyan, you must properly tell me of your achievements — how Yuyang rose in revolt, how you crossed a thousand li to reach Julu — tell me everything!"

Wu Han, however, credited the killing of the Northern Han Governor of Yuyang to Gai Yan: "Gai Yan is a hero from beyond the Yuyang frontier. It was thanks to his ambush that I was able to strike down the former Governor with my own hand."

As for Yuyang's role in circulating Diwu Lun's proclamations to the various commanderies of You Province, which had already persuaded Youbeiping Commandery to send troops south to assist in the attack on Ji City in Guangyang Principality, Wu Han credited Wang Liang.

"Wang Liang wrote a letter to the Governor of Youbeiping, reasoning with him."

It turned out that Wang Liang's letter had persuaded the Governor of Youbeiping with these words: "It is said that the supremely wise do not dwell in danger trusting to luck; the moderately wise can turn danger into achievement; the lowly fool rests in danger and brings about his own destruction. When peril and ruin approach, the outcome lies in the path one chooses — this cannot go unexamined."

"Now Hebei is in defeat and chaos, turmoil rising on all sides — this Your Excellency has heard. The King of Wei's troops are strong and his followers loyal, and Hebei has submitted to his mandate — this Your Excellency has seen. Liu Ziyu has betrayed the great clans internally and lost the hearts of the masses externally — this Your Excellency knows. Your Excellency now holds a lone, imperiled city, awaiting the calamity of annihilation — righteousness has no ground to stand on, integrity no means to be proven. It would be better to join in submitting to Wei, turning disaster into fortune, avoiding the defeat of the lowly fool, and reaping the achievement of the moderately wise. This is the most excellent of stratagems."

Youbeiping thereupon dispatched over a thousand shock cavalry, who followed Gai Yan south to attack Ji. This would likely prompt Liaoxi, Liaodong, and other commanderies to vie in submitting to Wei as well — undoubtedly achieving for Diwu Lun the ideal of "settling by proclamation."

After recommending both a military and a civil deputy to the King of Wei, Wu Han finally recounted his own feat of leading four thousand cavalry on a thousand-li campaign.

Wu Han's several minor engagements were indeed brilliantly fought, but Diwu Lun had heard from Zhang Yu that Wu Han had burned, killed, and plundered along the way, sustaining his supplies by living off war.

But Diwu Lun had no standing to criticize Wu Han from a moral high ground. For one, he had not assigned Wu Han any army inspector; for another, he had not provided the man with provisions — the Yuyang cavalry had brought their own rations to the field.

Moreover, in this era, where was there any army with good discipline? It was all a matter of comparing degrees of rottenness. The Wei army was no different — when Diwu Lun personally watched over them, they were slightly better, not daring to plunder in broad daylight. When Diwu Lun was not watching, every unit immediately showed you the lowest of the low.

For instance, in the few months since he had left Chang'an, the officials and soldiers left to guard Guanzhong had probably already run wild and grown corrupt, hadn't they? Last year's anti-corruption campaign was surely all for nothing.

And on the Hebei battlefield, after the army's expansion, discipline had plummeted at a speed visible to the naked eye — violating village communities, pilfering, even denouncing commoners as Tongma, beating and killing them, and seizing their grain and clothing — such things were everywhere. If one truly enforced military discipline by the standards of later ages, at least half of the Wei army's hundred thousand men would have to be punished.

All Diwu Lun could stop was the army's open massacres; the petty evils below were beyond counting. Before the inertia of human nature and the age, Diwu Lun was but a mantis, able only to spread his arms and block what little he could. If he wanted to push back even a little, he would need decades of time and many more pairs of arms.

Soldiers are instruments of ill omen; the wild falcon's talons are sharp — they not only tear at prey but also peck at people. This Wu Han had his flaws; he could only be tamed slowly, like breaking a hawk.

Setting aside these vexing matters that left Diwu Lun feeling willing but powerless, the two then discussed the current military situation. Though Wu Han was limited by his background — plain and unlettered — he could still, in simple and clear language, pinpoint the situation in Hebei.

"The Tongma and other bandit hordes are numerous — seventy to eighty thousand within the encirclement, and outside it, within a thousand li, perhaps over a hundred thousand scattered fighters across the various commanderies. Yet they are all plundering bandit gangs, with no unified command — in victory they do not yield to one another, in defeat they do not come to each other's aid; none are men who would die for duty or integrity. All the way south, they scattered before me like chaff before the wind. Apart from Chengtou Zilu, they are not worth fearing."

"Once Liu Ziyu is annihilated, the very head that unites these roving bandits will be gone, and the Hebei brigands will once again become a sheet of loose sand, to be smashed one by one."

Hearing this, Diwu Lun had essentially formed his judgment of Wu Han.

"This man is fierce, bold, and possesses both wisdom and stratagem."

His fierce boldness was most evident in how he dared to slay the former Commandery Governor with his own hand and rise in revolt, fighting his way across a thousand li. Compared to the slow and deliberate isolation of the Shanggu cavalry, the Yuyang cavalry's performance was outstanding.

His cunning showed in his outwardly simple and honest manner, while actually possessing a bit of craftiness — first admitting fault, then claiming merit, and not forgetting to pull his deputy up with him. It seemed this man did not covet small achievements.

He coveted great achievements!

Diwu Lun held Wu Han in rather high regard and thought to himself, "Among the valiant generals under my command — Diwu Biao, Zheng Tong, Zhang Zong, and the rest — few can match Wu Han."

This was high praise indeed. As a brave general he already passed muster, but could he command independently? It was hard to judge rashly. Before leading a large force of over ten thousand into battle, no one knows how much they truly weigh.

But in the future, the commanderies of You Province would raise a force of cavalry and shock troops. Military authority should be divided, not concentrated — it would not do to let the Geng clan control it again. Wu Han was a fine candidate.

And so Diwu Lun's reward to him was also quite generous.

The commanderies north of the Yellow River had all originally been under Liu Ziyu's rule, each serving its own master. After clashing on the battlefield, some switched allegiance. To ensure fairness in rewards, Diwu Lun classified them by timing and whether they acted on their own initiative or under duress, into three categories: uprising, defection, and surrender.

Wu Han's group fell into the uprising category — the commanders and troops would receive the best treatment. For the merit of offering territory and rising up, a marquisate of a thousand households was his.

Add to that helping deliver proclamations to Right Beiping and the thousand-li raid, and he gained several hundred more households. With the decisive battle yet to be fought, and Wu Han needing to hurry back to his troops, there was no time for ceremony. Diwu Lun could only promise verbally, and asked with a smile whether he would be interested in being enfeoffed back in his old home of Nanyang.

The military post arranged for Wu Han, however, was solid and substantial.

"The Wei army follows the system of the Warring States, divided into armies, divisions, and brigades. An army numbers several tens of thousands, commanded by a General. A division numbers over ten thousand, commanded by an Assistant General."

This was the wartime unit structure. The General of the Swift Cavalry Ma Yuan, the Left Chancellor and General of the Rear Geng Chun, and the General of the Vanguard Jing Dan each led an army, their numbers ranging from twenty to forty thousand, all depending on the King of Wei's allocation. Unless absolutely necessary, Diwu Lun would not bypass the army level to give cross-echelon commands to the divisions and brigades below — if they won, fine, but if they lost, would the lord have to shoulder the blame himself? Even if the urge to micromanage struck, he would stick to managing strategy and issuing orders to the generals.

But neither could military authority be fully delegated. Diwu Lun would still retain some units, kept outside the normal army hierarchy and order of battle…

Diwu Lun saw that Wu Han was not a man who easily submitted to others or followed orders, so he gave him room to act freely and a chance to test his mettle.

"Ziyan, though you have only four thousand men under your command, I am giving you a ten-thousand-man establishment. You will not be assigned to the command of the General of the Swift Cavalry or the General of the Rear. As an Assistant General, you will be directly subordinate to me!"

"It shall be an 'Independent Division'!"

Of course, sending a Palace Gentleman or two and Embroidered Uniform Inspectors to accompany the Independent Division as the King of Wei's eyes was indispensable — not quite army supervisors. For a newly risen unit, for now they would only observe and not rashly interfere. Otherwise, it was too easy for someone to take a chicken feather as a warrant and stir up a major incident for you. Gradual tightening and integration was the prudent course.

Wu Han was very satisfied with this outcome. The pork elbow before him was nearly finished, and with battle liable to break out at any moment, he prepared to pay his respects, take his leave, and return to the army. But Diwu Lun called him back.

"General, your clothes are soiled and torn. The army has only just arrived, and we cannot find a decent tailor. My build is not much different from yours, Ziyan, so I bestow upon you these two sets of brocade robes — wear them beneath your armor to ward off arrows!"

"I only hope, General, that in bright robes upon a spirited steed, you will shatter these remnant foes for me!"

…

"The King of Wei — truly an enlightened and brilliant lord!"

This was Wu Han's reflection after thanking the King and taking his leave from Songzi Post, savoring the impression of their meeting.

In this age, it is not only the lord who chooses his ministers; ministers also choose their lord. King of Wei Lun's conduct truly made Wu Han feel he was worth serving.

Brilliant and outstanding — that is 'enlightened.' His rewards and honors were most fitting, and when he discoursed on the realm, his heroic bearing blazed forth.

Perceiving the finest details — that is 'brilliant.' He even noticed the soiled and torn clothes on Wu Han's body, showing a human touch that made Wu Han feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.

But even as Wu Han prepared to settle down and work wholeheartedly, he had one small regret about this new master.

"A pity, though — he lacks a certain domineering, kingly aura. He does not seem like a heroic sovereign!"

…

PS: Chapter 2 at 23:00.