Chapter 458: Steel Blades Remain Steel Blades

Diba Jiao's tenure as Inspector of Liang Province was indeed no easy task — he carved a path across a thousand li of emptiness, fled in panic, and barely made it to Jiuquan. Only then, with the help of the two local powers Dou You and Liang Tong, did he finally bind Jiuquan and Dunhuang together, lashing them with long reins to the war chariot of Wei.

Liang Tong, Governor of Jiuquan, had a rather good impression of this Inspector. At the oath-taking ceremony in Jiuquan City, Diba Jiao delivered an impassioned speech to the dust-covered men of Liang Province.

"Gentlemen!"

"Not long ago, I was in Chang'an, where I followed His Sacred Majesty in viewing the map. We saw that the empire has over two hundred commanderies and kingdoms, and Wei already holds nearly half. Now Wei Ao wishes to use a mere handful of commanderies to resist the armies of a hundred commanderies of righteous Xia — how foolish he is!"

That "nearly a hundred" was, in truth, rounded up.

Diba Jiao was also prescribing the right medicine for the ailment, because Jiuquan and Dunhuang were small commanderies. Their combined population was barely a hundred thousand. Now, contributing troops to assist, scraping together what they could, apart from the men left to garrison, Dunhuang sent a thousand soldiers. Jiuquan, because Liang Tong governed his commandery well, was slightly stronger, but could still only field three thousand. Fortunately, half were cavalry, so their mobility was decent.

Thus, the men of Jiuquan and Dunhuang were deeply wary of the "tens of thousands" of troops reportedly under Liu Long, the "Grand General of Hexi" from the Western Han. To inspire them, Diba Jiao could only play the fox borrowing the tiger's might: "The state will confront them head-on, meeting the main Longyou force in battle, while we from Jiuquan strike at their rear. Using slow and urgent in alternation, head and tail aiding each other, Wei Ao's forces will inevitably be squeezed, unable to advance or retreat — this is certain defeat."

The meaning was that he did not ask Jiuquan and Dunhuang to fight a decisive battle; he only hoped they could pin down Liu Long's division and prevent it from pulling back to reinforce Longyou.

Up to this point, Liang Tong still held Diba Jiao in some esteem, finding him a man who kept his promises, fulfilled his mission, and was worthy of trust. Unlike Dou You, he himself had no connections at court. Getting along well with Diba Jiao would be quite advantageous for his future advancement in Wei.

But then something happened next that made Liang Tong see clearly the true nature of this imperial kinsman.

The allied forces of Jiuquan and Dunhuang were encamped by the Ruoshui River, a place of lush water and grass. This river originated in the Qilian Mountains and flowed north into Juyan Lake, hundreds of li away. On the opposite bank was Liu Long's army, come from Zhangye.

It was a strange campaign, for the two sides had faced each other for half a month without blades clashing. Instead, letters went back and forth ceaselessly. Liang Tong inquired and learned that Diba Jiao and the enemy general Liu Long were not only classmates from the Imperial Academy, but also fellow sufferers exiled together to Xihai Commandery. Back then, they had survived the desperate straits only by relying on each other.

No wonder Diba Jiao had been tirelessly trying to persuade Liu Long to surrender through letters. According to people who had fled from Zhangye to join them, Diwu Lun had already launched a general offensive against Longyou. Given Wei's absolute strength, even if Long and Shu allied, victory was only a matter of time. There was no need for Liu Long to stand on the side destined to lose.

After the envoy had traveled back and forth several times like this, the other side still refused to agree, and only raised one "unreasonable demand" to Diba Jiao.

"What? Liu Long wants a temporary truce, to first march north and deal with the Xiongnu raiding Juyan Fortress?"

Liang Tong had not expected the other side to be even more naive than Diba Jiao, because the Long army from Zhangye actually began to break camp. Several thousand men turned north, exposing their long supply line to them!

Liang Tong was overjoyed and proposed: "My Lord Inspector, originally the western army was no match for the eastern army, but now this is a rare opportunity. We can order the Jiuquan cavalry to strike their rear. In this way, Liu Long will be attacked from front and rear, and can only be trapped and die at Juyan. Then Zhangye and Wuwei can be taken in swift succession."

Unexpectedly, Diba Jiao only looked at Liang Tong and sighed: "Governor Liang, it is of course right to seek victory for the state, but a gentleman does some things and refrains from doing others."

This was war — all is fair, what gentleman was there to speak of! Liang Tong found this unreasonable and could only bring up Diwu Lun: "Did His Majesty not send you, my Lord Inspector, into Hexi as Inspector of Liang Province precisely to pin down the Long army and open up the situation from the west?"

It would have been better not to mention Diwu Lun. Once he was brought up, Diba Jiao had even more reason: "His Majesty said long ago that we are now fighting two wars at once: one to defend against the barbarians, and one to unify. If there is a conflict, defending against the barbarians takes priority. Since the Right Division of the Xiongnu has taken advantage of our two armies clashing to invade Juyan in force, Xiutu Marsh in Wuwei Commandery has already been lost. If Juyan falls too, Hexi will never know peace! Now that Liu Long understands the greater cause and wishes to first repel the barbarian invaders, how could I stab him in the back?"

And so, Diba Jiao not only refrained from exploiting another's peril, but instead decided to send two thousand cavalry advancing along the west bank of the Ruoshui River to assist Liu Long!

Enemies who had been at drawn swords just moments before were now actually uniting against the barbarians?

Liang Tong was stunned, and could only grumble privately to Dou You: "Our Lord Inspector has the benevolence of Duke Xiang of Song."

"Long and Wei contend for supremacy — it is a fight to the death. When Liu Long was in Wuwei and Zhangye, he nearly chased our Lord Inspector to his death in the yellow sands. Yet our Lord Inspector bears no grudge at all, and instead insists on 'a gentleman does not trap a man in distress, nor does he beat the drums before the enemy has formed ranks.' Does he not know that in war, victory is the achievement! This is Heaven offering and man refusing — one will only suffer the consequences!"

But Diba Jiao's worry did indeed have some merit: Juyan Fortress was far too important to Hexi. It was like the long, protruding spine on the back of the azure dragon that was Liang Province, thrust deep into the desert. The snowmelt from the Qilian Mountains created the vast, misty expanse of Juyan Lake, surrounded by lush water and grass, with large tracts of marsh and wetland. It was an excellent pasture for grazing cattle and sheep, and also suitable for stationing troops and farming.

The Han dynasty discovered this uniquely blessed base and built fortifications there. In times of strength, men like Li Ling marched out from here deep into Xiongnu territory to attack. In times of decline, they could still rely on the Jianshui Golden Gate and the fortress Great Wall to shield the long, narrow, and fragile Hexi Corridor, ensuring the Silk Road remained open.

But what if the Xiongnu occupied this place? They could assemble cavalry nearby, prepare provisions, and then march south along the Ruoshui River, drawing the flames of war into the heartlands of Zhangye and Jiuquan!

If they prioritized the civil war, and while both sides were exhausted, the Xiongnu swept south in force from Juyan and swallowed all of Hexi in one gulp — then they would truly weep without tears.

This strange campaign on the western front lasted from the seventh month to late in the eighth month. The Xiongnu had sent cavalry of the Right Division, thinking that with Hexi divided and Long and Wei at war, no one would defend Juyan. They never expected to encounter Liu Long striking their front, and then the Jiuquan troops striking their rear. The Right Gudu Marquis of the Xiongnu gained no advantage and retreated resentfully.

Since the Xiongnu had temporarily withdrawn, the two armies that had just days ago cooperated to resist the barbarians should resume fighting, right? Yet what arrived was not a declaration of war, but an invitation from Liu Long.

"Having not seen Jizheng for years, I wish to meet, without a single rider or soldier, at the empty city of Jianshui Golden Gate."

It was indeed Liu Long's handwriting and seal. As Diba Jiao hesitated, Liang Tong said: "My Lord Inspector, you absolutely must not go!"

Liang Tong once again began earnestly and tirelessly to advise Diba Jiao. Although this Inspector of Liang Province was, in his eyes, Duke Xiang of Song incarnate, Liang Tong could hardly bring up the incident of Duke Xiang of Song going to the Chu alliance meeting and being captured. Instead, he recounted another famous pair of plastic friends.

"When Wei Yang was in the State of Wei, he was friends with Prince Ang of Wei. After Wei Yang entered Qin, the two became enemies and fought in Hexi. When the two armies faced off, Wei Yang sent a letter to Prince Ang, recounting their old friendship, saying: 'Now that we are both generals of two states, I cannot bear for us to attack each other. I wish to meet you face to face, to hold a covenant, drink joyfully, and then cease hostilities, to bring peace to Qin and Wei.'"

"Prince Ang believed it to be true, and so went without troops to meet Shang Yang between the two armies. However, during the banquet, Wei Yang ordered soldiers he had ambushed beforehand to suddenly seize Prince Ang, and then immediately sent his troops to strike Wei, routing them utterly!"

Liang Tong stared at Diba Jiao as if he were Prince Ang incarnate: "Prince Ang was indeed a gentleman, but his sincere heart only served to build Wei Yang's glory. I implore you, my Lord Inspector, do not go!"

Yet Diba Jiao remained stubborn: "Prince Ang was a gentleman, but Wei Yang was a deceitful and wicked man — that is why it happened so."

"But Liu Yuanbo (Liu Long) is different. A gentleman facing a gentleman." Diba Jiao sighed: "This meeting, I must attend!"

Liang Tong's earnest pleas were fruitless, and he grew even more disappointed in Diba Jiao. He could only think to himself: "This Diba Jiao truly lives up to being a 'Prince of Wei' — he really means to deliver himself to Liu Long as a captive!"

But Diba Jiao had his own calculations. He summoned Dou You and instructed him and Liang Tong: "If we oppose him by force, Jiuquan and Dunhuang combined still cannot defeat Liu Long. I still wish to persuade him to submit."

Diba Jiao said frankly: "I, Jiao, am incompetent and know nothing of warfare. Even if I have misjudged the man and am captured and killed by Liu Yuanbo, it is merely the death of one frail, worthless fellow and will not affect the greater situation. You two gentlemen need only withdraw the troops to Jiuquan and hold the defenses. I will write this matter into a memorial. If His Majesty wishes to blame anyone, let him blame me alone."

"But Liu Long previously rushed to Juyan to resist the barbarians and was able to entrust his rear to me. I also did not betray him, and sent men to assist. Both sides have already demonstrated sincerity, and all former misgivings are gone. Today is the time to reap the harvest."

He was somewhat stubborn and naive, but he was also a fearless gentleman. Deceit and cunning stratagems — he had none of them. Diba Jiao pondered what he could do, and it was simply to treat others with sincerity.

Whether friend or foe!

Diba Jiao recalled how Diwu Lun had handled clan and neighborhood affairs back then, and it strengthened his resolve.

"I will emulate His Majesty and win people over with virtue!"

…

In the ninth month of the third year of Yuantong (AD 25), the weather grew ever colder. The fierce winds of the grasslands and deserts swept down violently, pushing south. The sand and stones they carried blotted out the sky and swallowed countless grasslands and oases. But as they continued south along the Alxa Plateau, they suddenly became gentle and moist.

Here, a river wound its way through the vast desert and Gobi, gradually dyeing the barren land green. Fortresses and beacon towers dotted the riverbanks like stars, and the Great Wall linked them into a single line, as if to guard this rare patch of green.

Among the Great Wall fortifications built along the Ruoshui River, one barrier fortress stood here — this was the Jianshui Golden Gate.

Its layout closely resembled the Jade Gate Pass: thick, earth-yellow rammed-earth walls, with garrison quarters on the periphery, and the Great Wall traversing the piers, stretching toward Juyan Lake on the horizon. In the Former Han, they formed an indestructible defense line, firmly guarding the oases behind them. However, over a hundred years of wind and frost had worn away nearly all the former majesty of this frontier stronghold. After the fall of the Xin Dynasty, it declined even more precipitously: the banners had fallen, the garrison quarters lay abandoned, and even the defending troops had all fled back to Zhangye.

All that remained were the stacks of bamboo slips recording border affairs and daily life, abandoned in the houses, and a general sitting alone atop the city wall, one leg dangling, drinking wine by himself.

Diba Jiao handed his horse to Gao Wutong and told him to stay far away. Alone, he climbed the un-ambushed fortress and met his old classmate, long unseen.

Before him was a face weathered by hardship, a beautiful beard reaching to his chest, a martial cap on his head, no armor on his body, and a hundred-refined steel blade at his waist — truly a mighty and imposing warrior!

The only flaw was that Liu Long's left ear was missing. Like Diba Jiao's little finger, it had been lost in that cold winter in Xihai Commandery.

"Yuanbo."

Along the way, Diba Jiao had thought of many words to persuade Liu Long to surrender, but now that they reached his lips, he felt only a sense of loss.

"Jizheng is still so quick to trust people." Liu Long was as bold and forthright as ever. He reached out and gestured across Diba Jiao's neck: "A gentleman can be trapped by his own integrity. Had it been anyone else, your head would already be hanging from the Jianshui Golden Gate."

Ten of him could not defeat Liu Long, but Diba Jiao was neither servile nor overbearing: "Had it been anyone else, I would absolutely not have come."

The two were silent for a moment, then Liu Long laughed first: "Such big talk. The wind in Hexi is fiercer than in Xihai Commandery — be careful it doesn't blow your skinny frame away!"

With that, he passed over his wine: "Blowing wind has chilled you — drink, warm yourself up."

Diba Jiao didn't stand on ceremony. He took it, drank, and at once grinned: "Mare's-milk wine, no less. Yuanbo, you never learn."

Back when they first reached the Western Sea, the wine-loving Liu Long, finding no liquor to drink, boldly tried the Qiang people's milk wine. The result was vomiting and diarrhea that nearly killed him — and for days Diba Jiao looked after him, stinking as he was.

Later, when the Qiang raiders invaded and the Western Sea fell, Diba Jiao, who had no martial skill, in turn owed his life to Liu Long's rescue.

"After so long on the frontier, even the stomach grows accustomed." Liu Long said, "But I still miss home — miss Nanyang, miss the rice wine of Anzhong."

His words held none of the bravado of driving the Xiongnu from the Juyan Fortress, only utter weariness.

Diba Jiao then said: "Nanyang is occupied by the Red Eyebrows; all rites and decorum are lost there. But no matter — so long as Yuanbo is willing to serve Wei, we will surely fight our way back!"

"Wei Ao merely uses the child Ying as a puppet, deceiving Liu Xin — is Yuanbo truly willing to throw away his life for the hollow title of a fallen dynasty?"

At this, Liu Long gave a bitter laugh: "I won't hide it from Jizheng. By my own temper, even after we joined forces at Juyan to resist the barbarians, once the Xiongnu were driven off, I would still have drawn up my lines and fought you to the death."

"But just three days ago, word came from Longyou — and it put an end to that notion."

When Liu Long raised his head, tears already streamed down his face: "Mount Long has been breached by the Wei army. Wei Jijin has fallen back to Longxi. To beg support from Gongsun Shu, he actually offered up the Yuanshu Emperor and the Son of Heaven's sword, proclaiming the Han Emperor's abdication — that Heaven's mandate rests with Gongsun."

"Jizheng — the Great Han has fallen. Again!"

A fine fall it was!

Even Diba Jiao had not yet received this news, and he was instantly overjoyed. The fighting had dragged on over three months — at last, real progress. Wei Ao's move was understandable, yet it was drinking poison to quench thirst; he had thrown away even his last guise of "legitimacy" and "loyal minister." It seemed Diwu Lun had truly driven him to the end of his rope.

Looking at the utterly disheartened Liu Long, Diba Jiao knew this was his best chance to persuade him.

"Then what is Yuanbo still hesitating over? Wei Ao, in name a Han minister, has in the end proven a Han traitor. My lord, by contrast, never received Han grace or favor — he was an enemy state!"

"Since Wei Ao has betrayed Han, this war no longer concerns Han versus Wei. Why not pledge yourself to His Majesty, destroy Wei Ao, and avenge this wrong?"

He was not boasting. If Liu Long were willing to "rise in righteousness," a marquisate was absolutely guaranteed. Later, he might even rank among the meritorious ministers — after all, he had a personal connection with His Majesty.

Back when Diwu Lun was arrested by the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties, Diba Jiao had rushed to the Imperial Academy to rally his fellow students to raise a commotion with him — and the very first to step forward was Liu Long!

Diwu Lun, too, had held Liu Long in considerable regard. But no one could have foreseen that, through twists of fate, they would end up enemies.

Yet the affair at Juyan proved that steel blades were steel blades, and classmates were classmates — there was still room to turn back and work together!

Diba Jiao still hoped that his old classmate could serve Wei alongside him, and together they would open a new future!

But Liu Long only drank in silence, watching the sun sink little by little. At last he sighed and rose to his feet.

"Jizheng, before we part, let me give you two things."

Diba Jiao barely caught what he tossed over — so heavy. He looked down and froze.

It was a gilt tiger tally, and Liu Long's seal and cord of office as Grand General of Hexi!

"Yuanbo, this is…"

"You were right. The legitimate Great Han I served is gone. I can no longer sell my life for Wei Ao."

Liu Long said: "Zhangye, Wuwei, and the troops under my command — morale is already crumbling. Even if I stayed, sooner or later they would mutiny and defect to Wei. Better, then, to grant them their wish. Zhangye, Wuwei, and these ten-thousand-odd soldiers — I give them to Jizheng!"

He drained the last of the wine from his pouch, then bowed to Diba Jiao with clasped hands: "What happened at Juyan made it plain — Jizheng is a true gentleman, worthy of trust. I repelled the Xiongnu's autumn incursion and held Juyan; my duty is done. From this day, Hexi — I leave to Jizheng!"

Diba Jiao was overjoyed, assuming he meant to join Wei — but then Liu Long continued: "Yet neither can I turn my back on the Liu name, betray the bloodline of the Exalted Emperor, and serve the mortal enemy of Han! Jizheng, urge me no further. If you see Diwu Boyu, tell him only this: Liu Long has never once regretted that day, standing with the Imperial Academy students before the Master of Fates, raising our arms in protest! The Lord of Wei is a true hero — it is only Long's misfortune that, bound by clan and surname, I cannot offer him saddle and bridle."

Their line, the house of the Marquis of Anzhong in Nanyang, was the last loyal remnant of the Former Han — Liu Long could not stain his family's name.

"Then what does Yuanbo plan to do from here?" Diba Jiao pressed.

Liu Long had already descended the Jianshui Metal Pass and swung into the saddle. His plain clothes were precisely what he had prepared for a lone ride of a thousand li.

"To find another classmate."

He meant Liu Xiu, Liu Wenshu. With the Northern Han and Western Han fallen one after another, and the Liang Han crushed by the Red Eyebrows, the once-boisterous array of Han claimants had faded, one by one. The last hope of the House of Han now rested solely with that King of Wu in the southeast!

The road ahead spanned a thousand mountains and rivers, farther even than Diba Jiao's journey to open the Western Regions. But a man's heart is iron — he harbored not a single thought of regret.

Over the great desert, the dying sun blazed like blood. The wind rose again. Amid the swirling yellow sands, Liu Long wheeled his horse and bade Diba Jiao farewell: "Jizheng, today we have shared wine and spoken freely, recounting the past. The bond of classmates, the friendship of friends — it ends here."

"When next we meet, it shall be Han and Wei standing opposed, twin ramparts facing each other, dust mingling, blades crossed. Between you and me, not a shred of mercy will remain — only steel against steel, unable to share the same sky!"

……

PS: Chapter 2 will be up in the middle of the night.