Chapter 446: The Pathfinder

The Hexi Corridor is squeezed between the Qilian Mountains and the Northern Mountains. The Northern Mountains, as their name suggests, lie north of Hexi. Unlike the Qilian range, which stretches endlessly like the sky, these mountains are broken and intermittent. The section in Zhangye Commandery is called the Heli Mountains, said to be recorded even in the ancient "Tribute of Yu."

This mountain range blocks the dry northern winds. South of it lies the fertile Zhangye Commandery, where the plains are flat and open, farmland on the oases stretches in crisscrossing paths, cooking smoke curls lazily upward, and the sounds of chickens and dogs carry between village hamlets.

North of the Heli Mountains, however, the landscape is utterly different: green becomes a rarity, and what meets the eye is boundless gobi — a vast, desolate wilderness devoid of human trace, where only idle clouds in the sky keep company with great expanses of small black pebbles and scattered tufts of grass.

In this place rarely trod by men, under the scorching blaze of the fierce sun, a lone man and a lone horse trudged with difficulty along the desert's edge.

The man slumped weakly in the saddle was none other than Diba Jiao. A month earlier, he had gone to Wuwei Commandery to contact Dou You, only to learn that the Dou clan had already been driven off by their old friend Liu Long. Unwilling to fail in his mission, Diba Jiao had taken several dozen riders and attempted to cross Zhangye Commandery — controlled by Longyou — to reach Jiuquan, where Dou You might have fled. The Governor of Jiuquan, Liang Tong, might also be inclined to defect to the Wei army.

Yet no matter how cautious they were, they were still pursued by Longyou's Qiang and Hu cavalry. Ambushed while crossing the Shiyang River, his subordinates were nearly all killed or wounded. Diba Jiao could only flee further west with the few men remaining.

They had lost their guide, and for the month that followed, they wandered the northern reaches of Wuwei and Zhangye, sometimes unable even to tell where they were. The surviving men either fell behind from wounds or, despairing of the road ahead, simply ran off on their own. Now only Diba Jiao remained, along with the Meiji youth who led his horse.

The youth was named Gao Wutong. When Diba Jiao had first proposed the westward journey, he had been the very first to step forward and boldly volunteer.

Now that the mission had met disaster, it was fortunate that Gao Wutong was an excellent archer. With the few arrows they had left, he hunted sand rats and sparrows, and used his ring-pommel saber to hack dead desert poplar for fuel. Only thus could the two barely stave off hunger.

The days were far too scorching, so they could only travel by night and rest by day. When awake, Diba Jiao would chat idly with Gao Wutong.

"Back then I said I wished to emulate Zhang Qian's ambition. I never thought those words would prove prophetic — we really have become Zhang Qian and Tangyi Fu!"

Gao Wutong was not pleased. He set down the small sparrow foot he had been gnawing for its faint flavor and said, "You, Inspector, may well be Zhang Qian, but don't compare me to that Hu boy Tangyi Fu. My ancestors were proper, true-blooded people of the Huaxia — not a trace of barbarian blood. In our Meiji in Xihe, calling a man a 'Hu boy' is the same as calling him a bastard. It's a knife-worthy insult!"

He had told Diba Jiao about life in Meiji: how as a child he and a gang of kids played on bamboo horses, and how he had a bit of history with Guo Ji, the Inspector of Bing Province.

"Every time we rode our bamboo horses to wait for him at the city gate, we'd always get fruit to eat."

Only later, when the frontier fell into chaos and the Xiongnu, lured by Hu and Han traitors, swept south to plunder, a horrifying massacre occurred in Meiji. The Meiji youths who escaped harbored a deep hatred for the Hu brigands. When General Geng recruited troops, many of them joined the Bing Province cavalry.

His face sunburned bright red, Gao Wutong declared with considerable pride, "Besides, I'm not the Inspector's servant. I'm only temporarily under your command. My superior is still General Geng."

The logic was unassailable. Diba Jiao laughed. "If we survive this, I will certainly report your merits to the King of Wei... When he discusses the realm, he often uses the phrase 'military unification.' He will surely be very fond of you."

"No."

Diba Jiao then corrected his own words: "Though I can't reckon what day it is now, the first of the fifth month has passed. The King of Wei is already the Wude Emperor!"

At this thought, boundless strength surged through him again. As soon as the sky began to lighten, he urged Gao Wutong to rise and travel a few more stages in the cool of the early morning.

To evade pursuit, their pace through the desert was agonizingly slow — so slow that they might not cover thirty li in a day. What was more, it was not only the men who were exhausted, but the horse as well.

When they crested a large sand dune that could not be bypassed, even the horse collapsed. Gao Wutong had always loved horses; even when water was scarce, he would bathe his beloved mount with sand. Yet now, after stroking its neck and mane for a long while, he steeled his heart, raised his blade, and killed it!

Then, expressionless, he began to carve the meat. "The wild game we can hunt grows scarcer by the day. This horseflesh may well be our last food."

Only after they had eaten the horseflesh did Diba Jiao glimpse Gao Wutong scooping up yellow sand to bury the remaining carcass, burying it while quietly wiping away tears.

When he turned and found Diba Jiao watching with a pang of shared sorrow, he dropped all courtesy and said bluntly, "By my count, you now owe me four — no, five Hexi great horses!"

They had traveled far too far from Xin Qinzhong; turning back now was long since impossible. Diba Jiao could only fix his sights on the west and press ever onward!

No matter how destitute he became — even when he lost the gold he carried — he never cast aside the five-colored ribboned staff of authority in his hand, and he still clutched to his chest the seals for the four Hexi commanderies that Diwu Lun had crafted.

"Before the guide was separated from us, he said that when the Heli Mountains disappear, it means Jiuquan is near!"

And when the Heli Mountains truly did come to an end, what appeared on the horizon ahead was a long, winding stretch of wall, like a serpent crawling across the desolate gobi, blocking the shifting dunes, pausing beside a gleaming white salt flat, then leaping up a steep high platform — a beacon tower!

This was the Han Great Wall at the border of Zhangye and Jiuquan, built in the time of Emperor Wu of Han and subordinate to a Commandant at a place called Jianshui Jin Pass. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but yellow rammed-earth wall and beacon towers rising one after another, said to stretch all the way to Juyan Fortress.

"The wall in Hexi is no good. It can only stop horses, not men." Lying prone in the sand, Gao Wutong grumbled that it was far inferior to the wall in Shang Commandery. But this was to be expected: it was said that Emperor Wu of Han had sent over a hundred thousand men to Hexi, yet on such vast land, with manpower and resources so scarce, even the Great Wall could only be built on the cheap.

Yet it also signified that Han governance had reached even this remote place.

Diba Jiao could only bolster his own spirits: "The Han Great Wall and its beacon towers followed Zhang Qian's footsteps into Hexi. And I am the Wude Emperor's vanguard envoy!"

A lone column of smoke rises straight in the great desert; the setting sun rounds over the long river. But Diba Jiao and Gao Wutong had no leisure to admire the beauty. They only lay hidden by the riverbank, and when deep night fell and all was still, they crept over, and with the aid of Gao Wutong's shoulders, scaled the wall, which was no more than a single zhang high.

Once past the wall, Diba Jiao realized he had gone to needless trouble — they could have simply strolled through in broad daylight.

Because this thousand-li frontier defense now stood utterly empty. No one stood watch on the beacon towers to gaze out at foreign lands anymore. When Xiongnu horse columns approached Hexi, no one lit the signal fires to warn the soldiers, the people, or the court.

Civil war raged fiercely; the border folk, left unprotected, had mostly fled and scattered.

This filled Diba Jiao with even greater urgency. The greatest problem now was that they did not know whether Jiuquan, like Zhangye, had already been seized by Longyou's troops. After all, nearly a month had passed since Diba Jiao and his men were attacked — perhaps even Dunhuang had fallen by now.

This doubt was resolved when, driven by lack of food, they ventured into a military farming colony to forage.

A group of local conscripts, hearing that two ravenously hungry strangers had come to their hamlet, immediately rushed over and surrounded them. These men, their faces seemingly caked with perpetual sand and dust, barked incessantly at Diba Jiao. Gao Wutong could not understand their Hexi patois and simply refused, on pain of death, to relinquish his bow and blade.

Diba Jiao, however, who had crammed a bit of Liang Province dialect before coming, burst into loud laughter upon hearing them.

Gao Wutong was baffled. "Why does the Inspector laugh?"

Diba Jiao said, "They are demanding to know whether we are spies from Longyou!"

"That means Jiuquan has not yet submitted to Longyou!"

Tears streamed down Diba Jiao's face, carving two tracks through the grime on his cheeks.

"Your Majesty, your servant has found the 'Great Yuezhi'!"

While Diba Jiao was reenacting the feat of opening new routes, by the end of the fifth month, Longyou was already thick with the clouds of war.

The expression of Wei Ao, the "Grand Marshal and Grand General" of the Western Han, was equally gloomy. Today he had summoned his chief strategist, Fang Wang, to make the final decision on Longyou's future.

"Diwu Lun has declared himself Emperor and issued a proclamation harshly denouncing Longyou. East of Mount Long, at Chencang and other places, great armies are massing. It seems he truly intends to campaign west!"

A year and a half had passed since the last clash between Longyou and Wei, but for the side that had lost over ten thousand men in that battle, this short time was nowhere near enough to recover. At best, it was a poison to quench thirst — recruiting Qiang and Hu cavalry into the ranks.

Diwu Lun, by contrast, had swept through You and Ji provinces. His state was wealthy and his army strong. Even by the most conservative estimate, Wei's strength was now over ten times that of Longyou!

So Wei Ao was somewhat hesitant. "Some advise me that if I offer up the Yuantong Emperor and surrender to Lun, the people of Longyou will be safe and the four commanderies preserved. What does the master think?"

Seeing Wei Ao still wavering even now, Fang Wang could not help but feel some disappointment. "What is my lord's own esteemed opinion?"

Wei Ao shook his head. "On the surface, no conclusion has been reached, but in my heart, I am unwilling to submit to Diwu Lun."

He still clung to the delusion of a Warring States-style struggle, a realm divided for generations before settling, hoping to preserve his status as a regional lord. But the situation was truly too dire. Wei Ao grasped Fang Wang's hand and implored, "I beg the master to speak without reserve!"

Fang Wang then said, "Those who keep saying that surrender will preserve the four commanderies of Longyou are not speaking falsely. But those people invariably omit one sentence."

"What sentence?"

Fang Wang delivered the piercing truth: "Surrender can preserve the magnates and the common people of Longyou. But can it preserve the General?"

Wei Ao was instantly shaken. Indeed. Fang Wang then sneered coldly: "If the dozen or so powerful clans of Longyou surrender to Wei, they can still protect their local factions, keep their offices, and remain in the commanderies and counties. But if the General alone surrenders to Wei, how will he be dealt with?"

"Though Diwu Lun's letter is full of phrases like 'if you surrender with due ceremony, you shall not lose a marquisate,' given his narrow and petty mind, he will surely have you, General, enter court under house arrest. From then on, your carriage will not exceed one, your mounts not more than a few, your retinue no more than a handful — how could that compare to today, when you face south and call yourself a solitary sovereign? Therefore, everyone else may surrender to Wei, but you alone, General, must not surrender to Lun."

Wei Ao abruptly rose to his feet. "Sir, your words hold reason. I am resolved to fight Diwu Lun to the end."

Between the professed 'peace and security of the Longyou people' and his own interests and faction, Wei Ao in the end chose the latter.

The people of Long were fierce and valiant, fond of the custom of vengeance. In the former battle at Zhouyuan, nearly every household in Tianshui and Longxi lost a father, brother, or son. With only a little incitement, exaggerating the 'brutality' of Diwu Lun's army, they could be made to stand with Wei Ao to avenge their kin and defend their homes.

"But Diwu Lun's momentum is overwhelming. Relying on Longyou alone, I fear it will be very difficult to oppose him."

Fang Wang proposed, "Your servant is willing to travel via Wudu to Hanzhong. I hear that Gongsun Shu has personally made a northern tour as far as Nanzheng. Your servant shall persuade him with the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold, and earnestly request that he send Shu troops through the Qinling passes to raid Guanzhong, forcing Diwu Lun to face an enemy in his belly and compelling him to abandon the campaign against Long."

Before departing, Fang Wang was still uneasy, and said to Wei Ao, "General, though you hold the natural defenses of the Long Mountains and can use the terrain to hold off ten with one, Diwu Lun is not ignorant of warfare. He will surely exploit his army's overwhelming strength and attack by separate routes. If he divides, we too must divide. Longyou has few troops, and will easily be stretched thin, unable to meet every threat."

Wei Ao nodded. After seeing Fang Wang off, he urgently dispatched officers and deployed troops, arranging the defenses of the Long Mountains.

The Long Mountains are the Liupan Mountains, stretching across the land between Longyou and Guanzhong, running north to south for a thousand li.

"To strike from east to west, there are only two routes. One is the Xiaoguan Road from Beidi to Anding."

This road is also called the 'Huizhong Road.' When the First Emperor of Qin made his first imperial tour after proclaiming himself emperor, traveling to the frontier fortresses, it was here that he turned back. And during the Han, the Xiongnu invaded several times, the beacon fires stretching all the way from Xiaoguan to Sweet Spring Palace.

The year before last, Wei Ao's uncle insisted on an eastern campaign, precisely to gain full control of this road, but the effort failed on the verge of success. Now the Wei army shares this road with Longyou, and can further threaten Anding commandery from Xin Qinzhong to the north, so a large force must be deployed to defend it.

"Let each of the sixteen clans contribute a thousand men, yielding sixteen thousand troops. Add four thousand Qiang and Hu cavalry, for a total of twenty thousand, under Niu Han to guard Xiaoguan."

Niu Han, a man of Didao in Longxi commandery, was the foremost general under Wei Ao's command, well able to bear this heavy responsibility.

"The other route is the Longguan Road."

Starting from the northwest of Chencang, crossing the Nine-Turn Slope of the Long Mountains, the 'Longguan Road' is the main artery between Guanzhong and Long. Though called a main artery, it is extremely steep and treacherous, even easier to defend than the Xiaoguan Road.

Wei Ao declared, "I, your General, shall personally guard the Longguan Road with fifteen thousand men!"

He rose to his feet and addressed the assembled scions and commanders of the sixteen clans of Longyou. "Longyou is the ancestral homeland of the people of Longyou. It is not for men from the Five Tombs and east of the pass to meddle and dictate!"

"Diwu Lun may have taken You and Ji with ease, but Longyou is not like the flat plains of Hebei. No matter how many troops he has, they must bow their heads before the Long Slopes!"

Wei Ao began to sing a local ballad, one not recorded in the Han Music Bureau collection.

"Waters flow from Longtou, streaming down the mountain's foot. I think upon my solitary self, drifting across the empty wilds."

"At dawn I set out from Xincheng, at dusk I lodge at Longtou. The cold leaves me unable to speak, my tongue curls back into my throat."

"Waters flow from Longtou, their murmuring sound a choked sob. I gaze afar toward Qin Chuan, my heart and liver torn asunder!"

Having finished this 'Song of Longtou,' Wei Ao suddenly struck the earthenware fou and cried out fiercely:

"Let the blood of the Wei army run dry upon the Long Mountains!"

PS: Second chapter coming in the middle of the night.