Chapter 474: Old but Vigorous

In the tenth month of the first year of Wude.

Chenliu Commandery lies east of Luoyang. Chenliu City had already been a major city as early as the Qin dynasty. A local man, Li Yiji, once told Liu Bang that Chenliu was "the hub of all under Heaven, a crossroads reaching in every direction."

That assessment still held true today. Chenliu bordered the Honggou Canal, and boatload after boatload of grain and soldiers shipped from Ao Granary were stored in this great city, turning Chenliu into the Wei army's deepest strongpoint in the Central Plains. Ma Yuan was also permanently stationed here.

This was Dong Xian's destination as well. As he waited beneath the corridor, he could not help but feel full of hesitation.

Half a year ago, he had still been an overweening warlord, the second most powerful figure in Liang-Han, yet the damned Red Eyebrow Army had battered him until nothing remained. Reduced to arriving with only a single attendant to seek refuge, what sort of treatment would he receive?

"General Dong."

Dong Xian turned to look back and saw a sturdy, middle-aged man with a long beard and a face as fine as jade, smiling as he cupped his hands in greeting. Without pausing, the man walked straight over, which made Dong Xian start.

The person seated beside him hurriedly explained: "This is State Commandant General Ma!"

This man was Ma Yuan? Dong Xian was quite astonished. He had always assumed Ma Yuan was an "old general," a man of Diwu Lun's father-in-law's generation. He had not expected him to be younger than himself. Then the Wei Emperor couldn't be some callow, beardless youth, could he?

Ma Yuan dispensed with pleasantries: "Word outside has it that General Dong was killed by the Red Eyebrows. It seems the General not only did not die, but also managed to escape safely."

"I just knew it — how could the General Dong who won the great victory at Chengchang simply fade into obscurity like that?"

Dong Xian was himself a man fond of boasting. He made no mention of Fan Chong casting lots and releasing him, speaking only of how he had defeated the Red Eyebrow pursuers. Ma Yuan merely smiled without replying, but at the end he asked: "Has General Dong come here for himself, or for Liu Yong of Liang-Han?"

Dong Xian simply said: "In the past I did not recognize the true sovereign. Only now do I know that the House of Han's mandate is utterly spent. The only one who can eliminate the great scourge of the Red Eyebrows is the Wei Emperor. I have come for you, General Ma, and for His Majesty the Wei Emperor."

To highlight his own usefulness and fetch a good price with his new master, Dong Xian began exaggerating the Red Eyebrows' strength: "South of Luoyang and Chenliu, the Red Eyebrows have already massed an army of several hundred thousand in Yu Province. I estimate their grain will soon be exhausted. The Red Eyebrow lords all have their eyes fixed on the grain boats traveling the Honggou Canal between Chenliu and Ao Granary. I fear they will invade northward any day now."

"I have heard that His Majesty the Wei Emperor is still in Longyou. If the Red Eyebrows' million-strong host advances north, can General Ma hold them off?"

"I cannot." Ma Yuan shook his head and laughed. "Back when we were dealing with a detached force of the Red Eyebrows and the Tongma Army, I once boasted to His Majesty that I, Ma Yuan, alone could stand against a hundred thousand soldiers. If the Red Eyebrows come with several hundred thousand, how could one Ma Yuan possibly suffice?"

"It would take at least five Ma Yuans!"

These words left Dong Xian unsure how to respond. He could only lower his head and say: "Then does the General think I might count as half a 'Ma Wenyuan'?"

Ma Yuan's phoenix eyes glanced sidelong at Dong Xian. Had this been the rough-and-ready hero from the great battle at Chengchang years ago, he truly might have been worth half of him. But now…

Yet however forthright Ma Yuan was, he would not leave the other man too embarrassed. He merely said: "Now that the General has come, we will know the Red Eyebrows' true strength and weakness inside out. That is worth more than two Ma Yuans."

Although Dong Xian exaggerated the Red Eyebrows' threat in hopes of securing a better position for himself, there was one thing he did not get wrong. According to an edict delivered from the traveling court, Diwu Lun had told Ma Yuan directly that the Longyou campaign had to continue until Mount Qi was taken. Moreover, with the Western Qiang to the west and the Xiongnu and their Hu-Han allies to the north, the main Guanzhong force would have to winter in Longyou and only gradually withdraw once spring arrived, depending on the situation. In the east, he could only rely on himself, Dou Rong, and Geng Chun.

The total number of Wei troops in Ji Province and the Central Plains did not exceed a hundred thousand, and half of those were newly trained soldiers. So this Dong Xian could indeed be of some use.

"The General's sincerity will be reported by me to His Majesty."

Ma Yuan said: "The eastern border of our army's jurisdiction adjoins Dingtao and the Juye Marsh. General Dong raised his troops there and enjoys considerable prestige in that region. Now, many of your former followers who were unwilling to submit to the Red Eyebrows have also returned to the vicinity of Juye. I can dispatch a detachment to escort the General eastward."

Dong Xian understood perfectly well that in these chaotic times, troops meant power. Of course he had to go and rally his old followers.

"Does Lord Ma mean for me to pin down the Red Eyebrow Army near the Juye Marsh?"

"Exactly." Ma Yuan brought up a certain person: "I have clashed with the Red Eyebrows and the Tongma many times and have rarely encountered a worthy opponent. There is only one man I have never been able to defeat — Cheng Tou Zilu."

"Cheng Tou Zilu is adept at using troops. He operates as a roving force between Bohai and Pingyuan, moving in squads of two to three thousand men, using the rivers, marshes, and forests along the great river to appear and disappear, specifically striking our army's rear and cutting the Wei supply lines."

That fellow had actually tied Ma Yuan down for several months, slowing his westward advance so that he had been unable to enter the field early and deliver the final blow to Liu Ziyu.

During the post-campaign military conference, Diwu Lun had said that this style of warfare practiced by Cheng Tou Zilu was originally created by Sunzi and Wu Zixu, then developed and perfected by Peng Yue during the Chu-Han Contention. It could be called…

"guerrilla warfare."

Ma Yuan was a commander adept at learning and applying lessons flexibly. Dong Xian's old followers were now scattered; even if regrouped, they would struggle to form a reliable fighting force. It would be better to have them learn from Old Master Peng Yue of the Juye Marsh and insert them behind the Red Eyebrows' lines — a casual piece placed on the board. A marginal move like this, even if Dong Xian switched sides again, would not greatly affect the overall situation.

"I can only grant the rank of Assistant General to those under my direct command, so I will not bestow it upon the General for now. I will give you only a tiger tally and a banner as tokens of authority. As for noble rank and an official post, His Majesty will dispatch an envoy to deliver them to the General in due course."

Dong Xian assented and departed. Ma Yuan agreed to give him a portion of grain, armor, weapons, and boats. Since winter began, war clouds had been massing over the Central Plains. The Red Eyebrows were indeed maneuvering frequently. The sooner Dong Xian left, the better.

As he left the Chenliu Commandery office, Dong Xian encountered a stern-faced official in black robes. Judging by the xiezhi emblem on his headgear, he must be an army judge. Dong Xian already considered himself a man of the State of Wei and nodded to this army judge. To his surprise, the man merely glanced at him, saw that Dong Xian wore no official seal, ribbon, or uniform identifying his status, and ignored him completely, striding straight ahead.

Dong Xian immediately felt deeply humiliated. In the past, he had been a feudal prince, commanding tens of thousands of troops — who would have dared show him disrespect? But now he had to stoop to serving under Ma Yuan, leading a few thousand remnants, and even a minor army judge dared slight him. This fall was truly heartbreaking.

Dong Xian was quite dejected and could only console himself: "But as long as I can lean on the great tree of the State of Wei, I can always start over from scratch!"

…

The army judge who had encountered Dong Xian and ignored him had kept his eyes fixed straight ahead the entire time. He walked silently into the hall and prostrated himself before Ma Yuan with meticulously correct etiquette.

"Shaoping, you've come."

Ma Yuan turned his head and said to this ever-stern army judge with a smile: "You ran into Dong Xian just now? See, same surname, similar given name — General Dong Xian is eloquent and sociable, nothing like you, wearing that miserable scowl all day as if someone owed you a gold ingot."

It turned out this army judge was named "Dong Xuan," courtesy name Shaoping, a native of Yu County in Huaiyang Commandery. He had fled north from the Red Eyebrow chaos to join the Wei army, and because he was well-versed in the Da Du Code, he had entered the army as an "Assistant Army Judge" for a brigade.

Dong Xuan had caused a major stir as soon as he arrived. On his very first day in office, he had beheaded all ten men of an entire company! The reason was that they had violated military regulations by harassing the people of Chenliu, forcing respectable women to sleep with them, and secretly taking army-issued grain out to sell for wine.

Such incidents were common in the garrison. As long as they were not reported upward, the army judges would turn a blind eye. Who had ever seen anyone enforce the rules as strictly as Dong Xuan did? For a time, everyone both feared and hated him. But when Ma Yuan heard that such a merciless enforcer of the law had emerged in the army, he laughed and said: "If His Majesty knew that someone had finally appeared below who strictly enforces the military laws he promulgated, he would probably be overjoyed."

From this, one could see just how low the level of enforcement was, even within the Wei army.

Ma Yuan then took it upon himself to transfer Dong Xuan to his headquarters staff, promoting him to Army Judge.

Now, to return to the present: anyone else, when their superior joked with them like this, would have felt compelled to respond with a fawning laugh. Not Dong Xuan. He remained stone-faced and said: "No one owes this humble officer a gold ingot. This humble officer never has financial dealings with colleagues, nor does he ever participate in gambling or liubo."

Having said this, Dong Xuan even turned the tables, glaring at Ma Yuan and saying: "This humble officer has also long wanted to say that the State Commandant should likewise stop gambling with the soldiers when making his rounds of the camp."

When other generals encountered mass gambling inside the camp, the stricter ones might directly drag the participants outside the camp gate and behead them. Ma Yuan, however, would stop to watch. After watching for a while, his hands would itch, and he would borrow money from the soldiers to place bets. Having roamed the jianghu for many years, he was proficient in all gambling techniques and could win every single wager from an entire camp's worth of veterans. Then he would turn around and use everyone's money to treat them to fish, leaving them all crying out in dismay even as they feasted, never daring to gamble in front of State Commandant Ma again.

"What," Ma Yuan said, "does Shaoping intend to punish me as well?"

Dong Xuan said with a stern countenance: "The only one who can discipline the State Commandant is His Majesty. This humble office is lowly and my words carry little weight. But when the State Commandant behaves in such a manner, it makes enforcement difficult for the army judges. If the State Commandant takes the lead in violating prohibitions, how can we demand that the soldiers obey orders and respect bans during battle?"

"Insolent Dong Xuan!" These words so alarmed the Governor of Chenliu, who was seated nearby, that he tried to press down on Dong Xuan's neck: "Apologize to the State Commandant at once!"

Dong Xuan, however, stiffened his neck and refused to bow: "Everything this humble officer has said is based on military law. It is remonstrance."

"No need to force him." Ma Yuan told the Governor of Chenliu to desist, then said: "Everyone in the army knows that Dong Shaoping's neck cannot be severed even by a blade. But military law also states that, so long as it is not wartime, games within the camp cannot be absolutely prohibited either."

"Who says it is not wartime now?" Dong Xuan retorted: "The Red Eyebrows' forward posts are just over a hundred li south of Chenliu. They can be here in a matter of days."

"From the moment the Red Eyebrows swept through Yu Province and the State Commandant was ordered to hold the Central Plains, a battle between Wei and the Red Eyebrows became inevitable!"

Ma Yuan did not grow angry. He nodded and accepted Dong Xuan's harsh counsel: "You are right. The army has grown far too lax. It is time to tighten things up."

"But the soldiers are used to joking and laughing with me, and I am loath to resort to killing at the drop of a hat. I have no choice — to make them tense up, I can only imitate the ancients and stage a 'fox borrowing the tiger's might.'"

Ma Yuan pointed at himself: "I am the fox."

Then he pointed at Dong Xuan, whose brows furrowed even tighter, truly as if he could squeeze out the character for "king," and said: "You are the tiger — the crouching tiger of the army! Come with me on an inspection round. This general is going to use Shaoping's fearsome reputation to put a scare into the officers and men of this army."

……

"Crouching Tiger" — that was indeed Dong Xuan's nickname in the army, for though he was only a minor Army Judge, his punishments were ruthlessly harsh, and any breach of discipline was strictly enforced.

Ma Yuan had once asked Dong Xuan the same question: "The Wei code is descended from the Han code, and the Han code had two main schools — the Greater Du Code and the Lesser Du Code. The former came from the harsh official Du Zhou, the latter from his son, the renowned minister Du Yannian. Most people revere the Lesser Du. Shaoping, why did you study the Greater Du?"

Dong Xuan's reply was terse and to the point: "Because in chaotic times, harsh laws must be applied."

Just as with bandits like the Red Eyebrows — only harsh laws could deal with them! Dong Xuan came from a middling family. He had no love for the extravagantly wealthy and powerful, but he held absolutely no goodwill toward the Red Eyebrows either, for when the Red Eyebrows entered Huaiyang, Dong Xuan's family, who ordinarily neither lent money at interest nor seized land, but only quietly passed down the classics, had their home stormed by the Red Eyebrow Army. They plundered the grain, and in the shoving, Dong Xuan's elderly father died on the spot.

Dong Xuan bore an irreconcilable personal hatred toward the Red Eyebrows, but what he took even more seriously was the public grievance.

"Dong Xian was not wrong in one thing he said: the Red Eyebrows are a great scourge upon the realm."

Dong Xuan studied laws and ordinances, and what he revered was strict order, and people who, under that order, proceeded step by step, each performing their own duties. The Red Eyebrows, blind and rampaging bandits, were the greatest destroyers of order.

What gave Dong Xuan a headache, however, was that General Ma Yuan, who had often given him guidance and support, was not a man fond of rules either. Though he was the Emperor's father-in-law and already past forty, he still had the heart of a youth.

Ma Yuan's conversation and bearing had a direct, straightforward, no-beating-around-the-bush style that, among the scholar-official circles of the Central Plains, was utterly unconventional. He was quick in both movement and speech, fond of joking and laughing, highly intelligent, skilled at riding, and able to endure hardship — a very lively man.

And his energy was quite abundant. Just that day, for instance, when he took Dong Xuan to inspect the camp, there happened to be a steep little hill along the way. Ma Yuan had been riding along at a leisurely pace, but upon seeing that hill, he was suddenly seized by a whim.

"Let's see who can charge to the top first!" he suddenly shouted to his panting subordinates and Dong Xuan, then shot out like a hound that had spotted its prey, while his subordinates scrambled to catch up.

Dong Xuan, however, stayed where he was. When Ma Yuan came back down, he asked, "Shaoping, is your horse not up to it?"

Only then did Dong Xuan, with solemn respect, tell Ma Yuan a story: "In former times, Emperor Wen of Han wished to gallop at full speed down the hill westward from Baling. The General of the Gentlemen of the Palace, Yuan Ang, rode forward and grasped the Emperor's bridle. The Emperor likewise asked: 'Is the General afraid?' Does the Commandant know how Yuan Ang replied?"

Ma Yuan clapped his head and said, "I know it. Yuan Ang replied: 'The son of a thousand gold pieces does not sit beneath the eaves. A sage and enlightened ruler must not take reckless risks. If the Emperor drives a speeding carriage, racing atop a perilous peak, and should the horses take fright and the carriage crash, the Emperor may disregard his own safety, but how could he answer to the ancestral foundations and the Empress Dowager's nurturing grace?'"

"It seems the Commandant knows it. That is also what this humble officer wished to say." Dong Xuan had a rather sharp tongue. "If the General were to die in battle upon the field, that would count as giving his life for the state. But if he were to unfortunately perish in an accident, the histories would only record the words 'died from a fall from his horse.' Would that not be a tragedy? The Commandant should still cherish his own body, and the heavy trust of His Majesty."

Ma Yuan, however, was confident in his own horsemanship. He merely pointed at Dong Xuan and said, "I see you are no Yuan Ang. If you exert yourself, at best you will be a Zhang Shizhi, at worst a Zhi Du."

Both were great ministers under Emperors Wen and Jing, both upright and unyielding. It was just that Zhang Shizhi became a renowned minister with a fine reputation, while Zhi Du the Goshawk, because of his harsh methods, became known as a cruel official.

Dong Xuan was not to be outdone: "Then does the Commandant know which general from the reigns of Wen and Jing you resemble?"

Ma Yuan said, "Surely not Li Guang."

Dong Xuan said, "It is precisely Li Guang. When Li Guang led his troops in battle, he camped by water and grass, kept his paperwork to a bare minimum, and merely sent his scouts far afield. Yet in governing an army, one must always be strict from beginning to end. Li Guang commanded his troops by letting every man do as he pleased — later generations must never emulate this. For after all, even with Li Guang's unmatched talent, he ended up unable to gain a fief and cut his own throat."

"I can only hope that the Commandant will learn somewhat from the methods of Cheng Bushi: keep the army's appearance orderly, and the ranks tight and disciplined."

Wasn't this precisely Diwu Lun's favorite way of employing troops? His Majesty the Emperor summed it up as "form rigid formations, fight dull battles." Jing Dan, Geng Chun, and those other "middling horses" also followed this style. But if everyone fought like that, wouldn't it be far too dull? Ma Yuan preferred to use his own favorite methods to win victory!

Though he had his own ideas, Ma Yuan took Dong Xuan's unpleasant but loyal counsel to heart. He nodded and accepted the remonstrance, but then added, "However, I am still quite different from Li Guang. Does Shaoping know why?"

"Because Li Guang could not gain a fief, while the Commandant already ranks first among the Marquises?"

Ma Yuan shook his head. "The difference is that I do not lose my way."

"Have you not heard the saying?"

Ma Yuan laughed heartily: "An old horse knows the way!"

……

Though Ma Yuan was usually full of jokes and jests, never seeming serious, this did not affect his skill in managing the army. Not only did he keep the army that Diwu Lun had handed to him firmly and steadily under control, but he also found time to recruit many refugees fleeing the disaster of the Red Eyebrows, establishing a "Yuzhou Division." Under it, according to native place, were formed the Huaiyang Brigade, the Yingchuan Brigade, the Liang Commandery Brigade, plus two Chenliu Brigades — a considerable expansion of the forces.

Ma Yuan was right to tighten military discipline, for only a few days later, an urgent military dispatch arrived from the east.

"Several large camps of the Red Eyebrows, each ten thousand strong, have suddenly moved north from Shanyang, heading straight for Dong Commandery. It seems they intend to attack Puyang. Governor Wang Hong of Dong Commandery seeks aid from the Commandant!"

Everyone was greatly alarmed. The fighting in Longyou was not yet over — was battle about to begin here first? Ma Yuan, however, was unconcerned. After hearing the military intelligence and studying the map for a few glances, he laughed and said:

"A fine ploy. So the Red Eyebrow Army knows how to fish too!"