Chapter 436: The Soft Persimmon

Liu Yong, barely settled on the throne, never imagined that after all his careful picking and choosing, marching south to strike Wu King Xiu — the weakest of the lot — he himself would turn out to be the softest persimmon under heaven!

This basket of persimmons was red and overripe, with no natural barriers of mountains or rivers between it and Ying and Ru, and its main forces all transferred south — so no one could blame the starving Red Eyebrows for coming knocking to feast on a rich house.

One piece of bad news after another reached Huaibei: "Suiyang has fallen to the Red Eyebrows — the city gates were opened by collaborators within. His Majesty's youngest brother, the King of Lu, has withdrawn to Shanyang Commandery with the Crown Prince and the rest."

"The Red Eyebrow vanguard is advancing east along the Si River and has already reached Pengcheng!"

This last report, however, was a misunderstanding — the only ones circling beneath Pengcheng's walls were the fake Red Eyebrows under Lai Junshu. Pengcheng had suffered grievously at the Red Eyebrows' hands before, so Lai Xi could only gaze up at the city and sigh in frustration.

But this was already enough to make Liu Yong lose all composure. He summoned the full court of ministers and generals at the field headquarters to ask their counsel.

His ministers all had their families in Liang territory, and every one of them urged Liu Yong to return at once! Only Dong the King, Dong Xian, spoke with a force that rang like metal striking stone.

"If we turn and rush back now, we will surely be harried from behind by Wu King Xiu."

Dong Xian had been a Juye bandit and one of the three original Red Eyebrow chieftains. He had never read a book, but he had a genuine knack for warfare — at the Battle of Chengchang, he and Fan Chong had annihilated a hundred-thousand-strong army of the Xin dynasty, making his name shake the lands east of the passes. He had keenly perceived that Liu Xiu's recent broken promise, his refusal to come and "perform the rites of lord and vassal" before Liu Yong, meant he had likely already gotten word of the situation in Liang and knew Liu Yong was about to pull back his troops.

If the Liang army turned around, its column stretching a hundred li from front to rear as it withdrew, Liu Xiu would only have to send his fleet in pursuit along the Si River to make the Liang army pay a devastating price.

At this, a minister spoke up in a barbed, insinuating tone: "Then let Dong the King stay behind in the south, stand off against the Wu King, and guard His Majesty's rear — what could be simpler!"

"Silence! You will not be disrespectful to Dong the King." Seeing displeasure flicker across Dong Xian's face, Liu Yong immediately rebuked the fool. Without a great general like Dong Xian, he would have no confidence at all in beating back the Red Eyebrows and retaking Liang.

"Then what course does Dong the King advise?"

Dong Xian said: "We should first feign a withdrawal north and set an ambush along the banks of the Si. If Liu Xiu dares send men in pursuit, we will meet them head-on and deal them a crushing blow!"

Liu Yong nodded and ordered Dong Xian to make preparations. But not long after, word came from the front lines along the Huai River that Wu King Xiu had dispatched an envoy, who had arrived to seek an audience with Liu Yong!

The envoy was Liu Xiu's trusted man Zhu You. Had he come a day earlier, Liu Yong would have berated him and demanded to know when Liu Xiu meant to come submit as a vassal. But now, with all will to fight gone, Liu Yong received him with full courtesy.

Zhu You laid his cards on the table the moment he opened his mouth: "My lord is fully aware that Suiyang has fallen to the Red Eyebrows."

"But the Wu King sent this outer minister here for no reason of exploiting another's peril."

Zhu You said: "In the Spring and Autumn period, Shi Gai of Jin led an army to invade Qi. When he heard that the Marquis of Qi had died, he withdrew his forces. The noble-minded man honors such restraint — not attacking a state in mourning. Now that the Liang capital has fallen, the loss of a capital is akin to a state's mourning. If the Wu King were to continue hostilities against the Jian Shi Emperor, that would be taking advantage of chaos and reveling in calamity. He has therefore sent an envoy to convey condolences, hoping only to turn swords into jade and silk with the Jian Shi Emperor."

That Liu Xiu would voluntarily sue for peace was something Liu Yong had never expected. For a moment, he was utterly stunned.

"Last month, when His Majesty led the campaign in person to the Huai, the Wu King wrote a letter saying: 'When uncle and nephew quarrel within the walls, they still unite to resist insult from without.' Those words still hold. So long as His Majesty withdraws his troops and sets a boundary with Wu, the Wu King will absolutely not obstruct the Liang army's return north!"

Liu Yong could not have wished for anything more: "We are willing to take the Huai River as the boundary with the Wu King."

Yet on the matter of drawing the border, Liu Xiu proved remarkably petty. He insisted that Liu Yong return to the Wu King the areas around Xu County — where Liu Yong's own field headquarters was located — as well as the Si River Commandery to the east.

Liu Yong had his ministers haggle with Zhu You for a good while, but in the end he gave way and agreed to Liu Xiu's demands.

"The Wu King hopes only that all men of the Liu clan can share a common hatred against the foe, and no longer bring grief to their own kin and joy to their enemies."

After Zhu You had concluded the peace agreement with Liu Yong and taken his leave, Dong Xian said with deep suspicion: "Does Your Majesty truly believe that Liu Xiu will honor this pact?"

Liu Yong said: "If Liu Xiu had readily agreed to the Huai as the border and conceded too much, that would certainly mean he was plotting something. But the fact that he wrangled so stubbornly over a single commandery — that, on the contrary, convinces us that Liu Xiu is indeed a man of honest and generous character."

…

Meanwhile, in Xuyi City south of the Huai, Liu Xiu's own subordinates were deeply puzzled by this peace-making.

"Great King, you must not show the soft-hearted mercy of a woman!"

Ma Cheng was especially disgruntled: "Can you truly believe in those ancient Spring and Autumn rites — not attacking a state in mourning — and think that by doing so, your grace will suffice to win over filial sons and your righteousness will suffice to move the feudal lords?"

Liu Xiu did not answer directly. He asked instead: "And in the General's view, what should be done?"

Ma Cheng said fiercely: "The fleet pursues them up the Si River. The foot soldiers, led by your ministers, cross the Huai and strike their returning army. Add to that Lai Junshu sweeping back from Pengcheng to cut them off — that would be enough to annihilate the enemy's hundred-thousand-strong host, capture the King of Liang, and force Liu Yong to submit as a vassal to the Great King!"

"It's not that simple." Liu Xiu shook his head. "If the Red Eyebrows had not struck Suiyang, then I would indeed have used Lai Junshu to harass Pengcheng, tricked Liu Yong into turning his army around, and sought a decisive battle by striking his rear. But now that the ones who came are the real Red Eyebrows, the situation is entirely different."

He looked toward Feng Yi: "What does Gongsun think?"

Feng Yi had grasped the reasoning behind Liu Xiu's choice: "The Liang army's morale has collapsed, but they still have vast numbers, and Dong Xian is a seasoned fighter. With our thirty thousand men from Huainan and Jiangdong to strike their hundred thousand soldiers and camp followers — to annihilate them completely would be exceedingly difficult. Far more likely is mutual destruction, both sides grievously wounded."

Liu Xiu nodded: "Exactly. When two tigers fight, both end up wounded, large and small alike. And who would be the 'Bian Zhuangzi' who seizes the chance to stab them while they are hurt and win fame for slaying two tigers in a single stroke?"

Feng Yi answered: "Even if the Liang army were routed, if Wu's forces took damage, we would still struggle to seize many commanderies and counties. The Red Eyebrows, on the other hand, would have no one to stop them and could sweep through Yu and Yan provinces. Beyond that, Qi King Zhang Bu in Qing Province and Wei King Diwu Lun could also reap enormous gains from it!"

The choicest, richest part of Liu Yong the soft persimmon lay in the northern Yan Province region — the most populous province in the land by a solid margin. But Liu Xiu was tucked away in the southeast; no matter how hard he tried, he could not reach that fruit.

"If I cannot eat it, I won't let anyone else eat it either." Liu Xiu smiled. "Better to let Liu Yong's great army go back, let Dong Xian's Red-Neck Army and the Red Eyebrows tear each other apart, and keep 'Liang Han' propped up for another half year or so."

But Liu Xiu had no intention of truly settling for a corner of the southeast. When Zhu You presented the pact fixing the boundary between the two sides, Liu Xiu held it and studied it closely. His men took the chance to urge: "In the old days, Xiang Yu and the Exalted Emperor made a pact to divide the realm between them, cutting it at the Great Ditch — west of the ditch would be Han, east of the ditch would be Chu."

"Yet when Xiang Yu turned east to return home, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping said to the Exalted Emperor: 'Han already holds the greater half of the realm, and the feudal lords all side with us. Chu's soldiers are exhausted and their provisions spent — this is Heaven's moment to destroy Chu. Better to seize the opportunity and take them. To let them go now without striking — that is what is called "feeding a tiger to keep trouble for yourself."' And so came the encirclement at Gaixia."

"Though the Great King spares Liang Han for the moment, it is truly unwise to feed a tiger and keep trouble for yourself. You should emulate the Exalted Emperor: rest and refit for a month or so, and when summer comes and the Liang army is locked in bitter combat with the Red Eyebrows at Suiyang, immediately send the troops north and seize all the lands of Xu Province!"

According to the plan laid out by Liu Xiu's chief strategist Deng Yu, the first step should have been to march west and take Jiangxia, secure the upper reaches, guard against Chu and Shu, then sweep through southern Jing, deal with Liu Xuan, and only then sit firmly astride the southeast, watch for cracks in the north, and bide the time to advance into Yu and Xu provinces.

But plans cannot keep pace with change. The Red Eyebrows' sudden thrust eastward had unexpectedly handed Liu Xiu a rare opportunity to expand!

Yet Liu Xiu shook his head. He carefully put the pact away. His temperament was quite different from his ancestor Liu Bang's. The Exalted Emperor was a knight-errant who paid little heed to minor scruples, but Liu Wenshu was an honest, sincere, and guileless man.

"I will not lightly break my word. If I did, how would the scholars north of the Huai — those whose hearts still turn toward the house of Han — look upon me?"

"When summer comes, we will indeed send troops to Pengcheng and advance into Donghai Commandery. But this is not exploiting another's peril."

Liu Xiu set his honest, sincere face into a grave expression and said with perfect solemnity: "It is seeing that a neighbor and kinsman's house has caught fire, and thus emulating Duke Huan of Qi, who preserved Xing and rescued Wei — going to aid my nephew Liu Yong in resisting the Red Eyebrows!"

He was determined to have it both ways — to claim the moral high ground and the practical gain, letting neither slip through his fingers.

In days to come, when the three armies reached the upper Si, and Liu Yong, driven to desperation by the Red Eyebrows with nowhere left to run, came to surrender and beg for his life, thanking Imperial Uncle Liu Xiu for the grace of rescuing him from peril and saving him from disaster, and offered up the commanderies that rightfully belonged to the Liu clan in the first place — along with the crown his meager virtue could never match — all to his beloved Imperial Uncle…

Liu Xiu smiled. "Would I have any reason to decline?"

…

The Red Eyebrow Army had become the greatest variable in the contest for the realm. Their movements were already erratic by nature, and with a certain someone now among them, they had grown even more unpredictable. No one knew where they would strike next.

Because of the Red Eyebrows' spring eastern campaign, Diwu Lun had no choice but to travel to Luoyang and stay there for half a month to get the latest news the moment it arrived.

"'The Hedong Tiger' guarding Hulao Pass is asking to fight again."

Diwu Lun flicked the memorial from General of Tiger Might Zhang Zong and showed it to Ma Yuan, who had accompanied him south for rest and refit: "Zhang Zong has already taken Xingyang by surprise and still isn't satisfied — he's itching for more. He says Huaiyang and Chenliu have already been punched through by the Red Eyebrows, and the kings of Liang and Han are scared out of their wits. This, he says, is the perfect moment for our army to march east out of Xingyang and seize the entire Central Plain."

He looked at Ma Yuan: "What does Wenyuan think?"

Diwu Lun's stable of great generals was growing ever larger. Cen Peng now held Wu Pass and Shangyu; Wan Xiu held the Guanzhong region; Geng Yan was in Bing Province; Jing Dan had gone to You Province; Geng Chun was in Ji Province. Wu Han showed potential, but his flaws were just as large — he still needed tempering.

In the end, he had chosen to place Ma Yuan in the Central Plain. Ma Wenyuan was skilled in both attack and defense, fully capable of handling any contingency in Yan and Yu provinces.

"Striking east is not difficult — from Heluo we can hold Yan and Yu by the throat. We can follow how the Three Jin gnawed away at Zheng and Song. I need only ten thousand or so troops, and within ten days or a month I can take Xinzheng and Chenliu!"

Ma Yuan pondered, then said: "But once we march east and seize territory, holding it will not be easy."

Before him and Diwu Lun lay a newly made topographic map of the Central Plains. It was plainly visible that west of Xingyang and Chenggao, the land was mostly mountainous and defensible. The Wei army needed only a small force to hold the passes like Hulao, with Henei and Wei Commandery securing the grain supply — even if the Red Eyebrows came with ten times the numbers, they would find it hard to break through.

But from east of Xingyang all the way to Mount Tai, a span of over a thousand li, there were no great mountains or rivers to serve as barriers — it was all wide-open plain. In times of peace under Heaven, this was a place where roads converged like spokes to a hub, where boats and carts gathered, and fine land for farming. So if one consulted the maps and registers, one would find that in the Former Han, Yan Province held five commanderies and three kingdoms, with a population of 1,645,000 households and 7,920,000 souls — in truth the most populous province of all.

But now, with the realm plunged into chaos, the land east of Xingyang had become a battleground fought over from all sides. The places under the King of Liang's rule were still passable, but those regions where the Red Eyebrows had first arisen were now strewn with the starved dead.

"Once we march east out of Xingyang, we must be ready for a decisive battle with the Red Eyebrows."

Ma Yuan was certain: even if the Liang army turned back from Huaibei, it would absolutely be no match for the Red Eyebrows' eastern expeditionary force. The Red Eyebrows were far harder to deal with than the Tongma.

So for the Wei army, starting a war in the Central Plains was easy — ending one was very hard.

"If we fight in the Central Plains, it must be a major campaign! Within this year, I do not intend to commit our strength to Yu and Yan."

Diwu Lun admitted that a few days earlier, a messenger had arrived from Chang'an reporting that Dou Rong's cousin, Dou You, Governor of the Wudu Commandery in Hexi, had sent his son to serve at court and was willing to submit to the King of Wei — and had provided some intelligence that left Diwu Lun slightly uneasy…

Wei Ao was still restless. After licking his wounds for over a year, he had begun to stir again. Not only was he exchanging flirtatious glances with Gongsun Shu and urging the Shu army to march north, he was also recruiting the Qiang and Hu tribes of Liang Province to his service.

"Longyou is a thorn driven into Guanzhong's back. So long as this sting remains, I cannot throw my full strength into the contest for the Central Plains."

"I intend to rest and refit through the spring. After I proclaim myself emperor, I will first subdue Longyou!"

As for Yu Province and Yan Province, he would leave those to Ma Yuan to handle as he saw fit. The troops and grain of Henei, Luoyang, and Dong Commandery would all be at his disposal. When the moment was right, he would first gnaw off everything west of Chenliu, to serve as a bridgehead for the Central Plains theater and to observe how the situation developed.

Diwu Lun was about to return to Guanzhong, but before leaving, one concern still nagged at him: "While the Red Eyebrows and Liang-Han are locked in bitter combat, it is not only we who profit — King Xiu of Wu does as well."

He had to think of a way to throw a little trouble Xiu's way, to keep him from marching north and taking Xu Province too easily.

"The core of this soft persimmon is sweet indeed, but I cannot finish it all — and you won't get your fill either!"