Chapter 459: Dignity

Liu Long could not betray his clan name, but as a fellow great general of Longyou, Niu Han had no such qualms.

This fierce commander, who had held Xiao Pass for three months without losing it and forced Geng and Wu to scale mountains and cross ridges, now doffed his armor and helmet, dressed in plain black cotton clothes, and entered the old Di family residence in Chengji County.

What a familiar place this was. Niu Han remembered visiting the Di household often in his youth. Old Di Cui was a heroic figure, sharp and enterprising, while his nephew Wei Ao was far more conservative, always clutching a book, his mouth full of classical phrases, never speaking without invoking benevolence and the Great Dao — but in truth, Wei Ao's courage was very small.

So small that he actually abandoned Tianshui and fled to Longxi, leaving Niu Han, who had always faithfully performed his duty, trapped in a desperate two-front pincer, with no choice but to surrender Xiao Pass and pledge allegiance.

With these thoughts, Niu Han was searched by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, then followed Zhang Yu inside and knelt before Diwu Lun — who had made Chengji County his temporary traveling palace — as Diwu Lun was leafing through the Di family's letters.

Niu Han was a typical Longyou giant, over eight chi tall. He had heard that Diwu Lun was not tall, but since Diwu Lun was seated, it was hard to tell; Niu Han could only try to bow his body as low as possible.

"The guilty subject Niu Han pays homage to Your Majesty."

"Niu Ruqing." Diwu Lun sized Niu Han up. The man's surname, courtesy name, and current posture reminded him of the phrase "bow your head and gladly serve as a child's ox," which he found amusing. He merely smiled and said, "You were a great general under the Di clan — how have you become my subject?"

"A sage Son of Heaven who can rule Liang Province for long is the lord of all good families' sons." Niu Han opened his mouth and spoke plain truth: "Three hundred years ago, the sons of Longyou were old subjects of the Qin homeland. Two hundred years ago, Emperor Gao of Han conquered the Three Qins and entered the seat of power, and our ancestors became Han subjects. And now, the Han mandate is exhausted. It is time to settle down and become Wei subjects."

"But in your correspondence with Wei Ao last month, that is not what you said." Diwu Lun tapped the bamboo slips before him. These had been sent by courier to Tianshui only after Wei Ao's hasty southern retreat, and were thus intercepted by the Wei army — Niu Han's own handwritten letter.

"It says here: even if the Wei army crosses Long Mountain, their soldiers will be weary and their supplies hard to maintain. You urged Wei Ao to march north and join forces with the Xiao Pass army, which still numbered twenty thousand, to fight me to the death, with victory or defeat still unknown. General Niu, tell me: how exactly did you plan to win?"

"It was my stupidity, not knowing that Your Majesty wields troops with divine skill." Niu Han did his best to explain to his new master: "At the time, I also did not yet know that Wei Ao would abandon us and flee, so I wished to live and die together with him."

Niu Han's words were full of regret: "When Wei Ao stirred up the various clans of Longyou to resist Your Majesty, he said he would lead the sons of the six commanderies to defend their homeland, and would not let men from the Five Tombs of Guanzhong ride on their heads. But now, being shat on from above by men from Ba-Shu, or being pissed on from above by men from the Five Tombs — which is more disgraceful?"

These words succeeded in making Diwu Lun laugh. A brilliant summary. It seemed the good families' sons of Longyou were not entirely impervious to reason after all. Since the hope of being masters of their own house and dominating a region had been shattered, if one must be a dog, one should at least pick a good master!

This Niu Han was someone he could work with. Moreover, he had once defeated Wu Han's subordinates, so this "surrender" was rather dignified; his treatment still needed some consideration.

Although the mountain passes had been crossed and Tianshui secured, much of Liang Province remained untaken, and the Shu army had also meddled in. The war could not be considered over. Diwu Lun intended to let Niu Han exert a little residual heat before retiring.

But before Niu Han took his leave, he asked about one matter.

"When I was traveling south, I heard rumors that Wei Ao deposed the Han Emperor, forced the child Ying to abdicate, and completely threw in his lot with the Cheng family. Is there any truth to this?"

"There are such rumors." Diwu Lun said, "What does Ruqing make of them?"

Niu Han lowered his head: "Those spreading the rumors must not understand Wei Ao. Wei Jimeng is a Confucian scholar, born with the greatest concern for face. Even if the Han Emperor has no value left, he would never act so rashly. These rumors, I fear, are untrue!"

"Absurd! Who exactly is spreading such rumors? Their hearts deserve death!"

At this very moment, Wei Ao, having abandoned his old home and retreated to Longxi, was also denouncing the rumors furiously before the entire exiled court.

Wei Ao was righteous and stern: "When Longyou first rebelled against Wang Mang, the oath was sworn by thirty-one generals and sixteen clans. My uncle and I were both among them. We swore to follow the will of Heaven, raise troops, and support the House of Han. Should any harbor disloyal intentions, may the spirits destroy them, may their ancestral temple be bathed in blood, and may their clan perish."

"After the battle of Zhouyuan, the world believed the Han mandate was all but spent, but I inherited my uncle's dying wish and still kept faith with our oath. Now, with the blood on our lips still wet, how could I betray that oath?"

"The Gongsun Emperor sent Shu troops into Long. This is Shu and Han joining hands to resist Wei — when a neighbor's house is on fire, not helping means endangering yourself. Gratitude is barely sufficient; how could one, with the heart of a petty man, suspect that he came to fight the fire only to seize the chance to enter the house and steal?"

In this moment, Wei Ao looked exactly like the old days, when the Duke Who Pacifies the Han, Wang Mang, proclaimed himself the Han dynasty's loyal servant and bitterly denounced those who urged him to replace the House of Han...

"To protect the safety of the Yuantong Emperor and prevent the Wei villains from harming him, I requested the imperial carriage be moved to Lintao City. His Majesty is safe and sound; there is absolutely no matter of entering Shu. If any of you gentlemen wish to pay your respects, simply go to Lintao yourselves. A rolling ball stops at a low barrier; rumors stop with the wise. Believe these rumors no more!"

Having with difficulty dismissed the crowd of officials who had come to question him, Wei Ao collapsed wearily onto the couch. The always refined Grand General Wei could not help but curse: "Diwu Lun falsely names his era 'Martial Virtue,' yet he is the most virtueless of all — even stooping to such despicable acts!"

"He was the one who sent Feng Yan into Long with the Son of Heaven's sword, goading us into enthroning an emperor. And now, not content with seizing my homeland, he sends men to spread rumors that I betrayed our oath and forced the Han Emperor to abdicate!"

Back then, a clever man like Wei Ao had only proposed that the little emperor take the title "King of Han," leaving some room to retreat, but he could not overrule his uncle and old Liu Xin, and they went all the way in one step.

As a result, after the defeat at Zhouyuan, the Western Han lost any chance to contend for the realm, and the puppet emperor's drawbacks outweighed his benefits. But even if Wei Ao wanted to be a whore, he still had to keep the memorial archway standing, because he had entered office through classical scholarship and was not respected by the Longyou heroes who revered martial force. In the first year, he was also firmly suppressed by his uncle and could not hold military authority; his prestige was slight. Since last year, his ability to keep the Longyou bravos in check had relied heavily on political maneuvering and the titles of "Grand Marshal and Grand General" — holding the Son of Heaven hostage to command the feudal lords.

Even though Diwu Lun had fought his way into Longyou, and Wei Ao could only choose to throw in his lot with Gongsun Shu, Wei Ao, even at the end of his rope, would rather die than lose face and refused to tear down his own facade.

There was no helping it. The original oath and war proclamation had been sung too loudly; the finale had to have a proper beginning and end, or else he would truly become the laughingstock of the world.

The proper plan Wei Ao and Fang Wang had devised was this: first persuade Gongsun Shu to send troops into Long for relief. Then, on the first day of the new year, have the child Emperor Ying "personally" issue an edict, saying that, pressed by the Wei villains and in constant fear, moved by the abundant virtue of his good neighbor the Gongsun Emperor, the House of Han truly could not carry on, and was willing to entrust the state to this elder.

In this way, Gongsun Shu, having gained the "transfer of the Mandate of Heaven," would be pleased, and Wei Ao, as a "Han subject," could also accept the edict in deepest grief, smoothly and logically becoming a feudal king under the Gongsun Emperor, continuing to dominate a region in Long, while minimizing the negative fallout.

But such a plan, which covered every angle, had been sabotaged by the spies Diwu Lun sent to the various commanderies and counties of Liang Province before it could even be implemented.

They widely proclaimed that Wei Ao had led the Western Liang troops, forced the child Ying to abdicate, and caused old Liu Xin's blood to splash on the palace steps, and even that the child Ying was sent to Shu and deliberately pushed off a cliff on the Jinniu Road to his death — all told in vivid, convincing detail.

With the war having reached this stage, Wei Ao's intention to abandon Han and join Shu was known to every passerby, and everyone naturally believed it to be true.

From the eighth month to the ninth, the rumors had been spreading for nearly a month. The direct result was that those who had long wanted to cut ties with Wei Ao gained an excellent excuse. The reason the various counties of Tianshui could be pacified by mere proclamations, aside from young Geng's military edge, owed no small part to the rumors.

There was even a miraculous effect that Diwu Lun himself had not anticipated: in this time of war and chaos, with communications between commanderies cut off, the false news had been accepted as truth, even reaching as far as Zhangye Commandery in Hexi, influencing Liu Long's judgment. In his grief and indignation, this brash fellow handed Wuwei, Zhangye, and over ten thousand troops to Diba Jiao on a silver platter — a happy accident that became a fine tale...

But Wei Ao was the one who suffered the injustice. Diwu Lun reaped all the benefits, while he took all the damage. The plan he had counted on — of various places in Tianshui stubbornly resisting and tying down the Wei army — thus went up in smoke.

At this thought, Wei Ao could only clutch his chest and say: "I, Wei Ao, have no great ambition in this life. I sought only to be a minor feudal lord, to have a good beginning and a good end. But Diwu Lun — he pushes a man too far, and does not want to let me have my dignity!"

Though they were old acquaintances, Diwu Lun had not the slightest thought of showing mercy or letting Wei Ao off.

In the ten-odd days and month since the Wei army occupied Anding and Tianshui, they had launched no new offensives, but the encirclement net around Longxi was being woven, bit by bit, by Diwu Lun's nimble ten fingers.

The first general summoned to the traveling palace was Wan Xiu.

"Gentlemen, look."

As soon as Wan Xiu entered, Diwu Lun pointed at him and said to the officials around him: "Junyou blazed the trail for me and was the first to enter Long. In this campaign, the three generals each have three-tenths of the credit!"

And the remaining tenth?

"The remaining tenth lies with Jizheng." At this moment, Diwu Lun still did not know that Diba Jiao, by a twist of fate, had already taken over the two commanderies and ten thousand soldiers under Liu Long's command. He only thought Diba Jiao was still in Jiuquan, playing a negligible pinning role.

So Diwu Lun made the following arrangements: young Geng was sent back to Beidi Commandery to take charge of the situation. His task was to find a way to send Bing Province cavalry along the Yellow River route through the new Qin heartland, coordinating with Diba Jiao to take Wuwei and Zhangye, to prevent the Xiongnu from exploiting the vacuum.

And the task given to Wan Xiu was also rather important: "You shall garrison Tianshui and oversee military affairs in Longyou."

Although Wan Xiu had made a trip through the Wei River narrows, the results were indeed not as good as Geng's and Wu's. He was still better suited to fighting on the main front, or defending a region.

Diwu Lun had previously ordered the generals to make probing attacks on Longxi and found the terrain quite difficult to assault. Wei Ao and Yang Guang still had at least twenty thousand troops in hand, plus over ten thousand Shu reinforcements; a direct assault would not be easy.

It would be better to let Wan Xiu hold Tianshui Commandery, then slightly contract the forces to create the appearance of withdrawing for the winter, and see if they could lure Wei Ao to bring the Shu army to "recover lost territory." Wipe out a few units, and the war would become much easier to fight.

As Wan Xiu bent down to receive his orders, Diwu Lun hurriedly supported him. Wan Xiu had injured his back when traversing the narrows; because it had been neglected and untreated for too long, it was said that recently he could only inspect the troops from a carriage. But with frontline generals scarce, Diwu Lun still could not do without him.

Diwu Lun said to his old comrade: "I only need the general to 'hold the fort.' From today onward, until your injury heals, you need not kneel even when paying respects."

Since Wan Xiu was to be the shield, then naturally someone must serve as the spear!

"Ziyi."

Diwu Lun summoned Wu Han: "You shall be the General of Valiant Cavalry. Bring your independent division to full strength, take the Colonel for Protecting the Qiang, march west to Yuzhong (present-day Lanzhou, Gansu), strike Jincheng Commandery, and sweep around Longxi's flank!"

Wu Han acknowledged the order, but then it hit him — wait, who was this Colonel for Protecting the Qiang?

Niu Han, standing at the very end of the line, silently stepped forward and prostrated himself in obeisance. Though the young man's bovine face remained as composed as when he had first paid homage to Diwu Lun, the moment he knew he would be marching to war alongside Wu Han, his heart was truly seized with dread — and it only grew more hair-raising when he caught Wu Han's triumphant, vicious grin.

"Diwu Lun has assigned me to travel with Wu Han — could it be he sees through my feigned surrender?"