Chapter 491: Founding the State

In the last ten days of the first month of the second year of Wude — also the "second year of the Prince of Wu" — the red Han banner was raised over Tan City, the seat of Donghai Commandery, signifying that this great commandery of Xu Province had formally submitted to Wu Han.

"Your Majesty's foresight is divinely accurate."

General Who Establishes Righteousness Zhu You rode his horse into the city and said to Palace Attendant Lai Xi beside him, "Earlier, because Deng Yu was absent, everyone believed Donghai, being the old nest of the Red Eyebrows, could not be attacked. Only His Majesty overruled all objections."

Liu Xiu had told them this: "I have heard that the Red Eyebrows established the Five Lords and built a common rule. Among the Five Lords, apart from Fan Chong, who is a man of Ju, and Pang An, who is a man of Langya, the remaining three lords — Xu Xuan, Xie Lu, and Yang Yin — are all men of Donghai Commandery."

"But why, after their great victory over the Xin army that year, when they returned in glory to their homeland, were they unable to gain a foothold in Langya, Ju, or Donghai, and could only flee in panic and continue to drift through the provinces?"

This was precisely what the assembled ministers had failed to grasp. Generally, in times of chaos, heroes are more welcomed in their hometowns and prefer to use local troops. Take Liu Bang, for example — under his command were many men from Feng and Pei. Or Xiang Yu, whose eight thousand Jiangdong sons formed the foundation of his rise and were his only choice after his defeat.

It was Liu Xiu who voiced his deduction: "First, although the Red Eyebrow chieftains rose in arms in the Haidai region, their power swelled mainly in Yan Province and Qing Province, where they swept up the flood victims of the Yellow River. Thus, when Fan Chong returned east, in the eyes of the people of Haidai in Xu Province, he was already an outsider army and was met with considerable local hostility."

"Second, the powerful clans of Langya, Donghai, and other places were overbearing. That was why they could help Ju City hold out, and also help the local two-thousand-bushel officials defeat Fan Chong and drive out the Red Eyebrows."

On the other hand, that Prince Dong, Dong Xian, after defecting to Liang Han and changing his nature, was welcomed by Donghai Commandery and became its local protector.

And the Langya powerful clans propped up Zhang Bu as the officer defending the territory.

It was only a pity that now Dong Xian had gone west to rescue Liang Han, was defeated, and threw in his lot with Diwu Lun, unable to return. The Red Eyebrow Pang An's force, while besieging Pengcheng, had also re-entered Donghai Commandery. Thus Liu Xiu judged that the time had come!

"Donghai Commandery, blocked by the sea and linked to the mountains, is the strategic throat between north and south. It must be valued equally with Pengcheng. Both are the protective screens of the southeast. Holding Pengcheng allows one to defend Huaibei; holding the sea allows one to spy on Langya and reinforce Qing Province. Whenever Wu and Yue have turned north to seek hegemony, they have always first seized the land of Donghai."

Liu Xiu had endured strategic restraint and frustration for a very long time. A year earlier, when Liang Han came under attack by the Red Eyebrows and suffered a great collapse, he did not rush north in a frenzy, plunging into a chaotic melee with the Prince of Qi, Zhang Bu, and the Red Eyebrows. Instead, he calmly and methodically cleaned up the Shanyue in his rear and the remnant bandits in Huainan, at least driving them into the mountains and marshes and consolidating his rear.

In the latter half of the year, he adopted Deng Yu's proposal and sent his subordinate Feng Yi with the fleet west to seize Jiangxia Commandery. Then, under the banner of "rescuing the Emperor," he slowly encroached upon Jingnan, which was under the control of the Greenwood remnants.

The Greenwood kings were already being battered black and blue by the forces of the Prince of Chu and Li. The banner of Liu Xuan was truly on the verge of being struck down. In contrast, Liu Xiu's side had also once been "Greenwood." Among all the powers under heaven, could there be any closer kin than this? While the great chieftains, who had past grudges with the Liu brothers, still hesitated, the lesser chieftains surrendered to Deng Yu and Feng Yi in droves. For a time, the situation of strong subjects pressuring their master had taken shape.

Only a few days ago, when he received reports from the two generals that the situation in the south had stabilized, did Liu Xiu finally make his move to the north.

As Liu Xiu had predicted, the powerful clan forces in Donghai Commandery were not to be underestimated. They and the three Red Eyebrow lords were indeed fellow townsmen, but when they met, their eyes were not brimming with tears — rather, they were glaring with particular ferocity. Class hatred far exceeded the bonds of local fellowship.

Seeing that Liang Han had collapsed, Dong Xian had vanished, and the Prince of Qi, Zhang Bu, to the north, had been badly mauled by the Red Eyebrows due to his greed for Yan Province, with his troops all deployed in western Qing Province and no leisure to advance south, if they wanted to drive out the Red Eyebrows, they could only cooperate with the Prince of Wu, Liu Xiu.

Thus, it was often the case that Lai Xi would lead troops to give the Red Eyebrows foraging in the Donghai countryside a harsh beating, while Zhu You was responsible for establishing contact with the powerful clans in the county seats. They advanced west from Haixi County on the coast, and all along the way, they were met with scenes of "carrying wine and provisions to welcome the royal army."

At this, Zhu You grew somewhat swollen-headed, but Lai Xi was quite clear-minded and said to him, "Do not forget what His Majesty said."

Liu Xiu had told them: "After you enter Donghai, you may be welcomed by the local powerful elders. Do not let your guard down. No matter who comes — the Han army, Diwu Lun, Zhang Bu, even if it is a dog!"

"As long as it can drive away the Red Eyebrows, the powerful elders of Donghai will all prostrate themselves on the ground to welcome it!"

After the two men entered the commandery seat, Zhu You was to remain and deal diplomatically with the powerful elders, working to consolidate the Han army's control over Donghai and establish the eastern half of the "Huaibei Fence" envisioned by the two strategic masters, Liu Xiu and Deng Yu.

Meanwhile, Lai Xi, after resupplying locally, would take his own force of four thousand men and begin advancing southwest!

Lai Xi's objective was the "western gate" of Liu Xiu's Huaibei strategy — namely, the capital of Xu Province, Pengcheng!

…

Over the entire past year, while Diwu Lun swept across Hebei, Longyou, and Hexi, in the northern part of Xu Province, which was a stone's throw from Huainan, Liu Xiu had only sent men to seize Pengcheng as a strategic pivot point. Even that had been attacked by the Red Eyebrows, resulting in Pengcheng being besieged.

Yet for an entire winter, Liu Xiu was still unhurriedly consolidating his internal structure and deploying troops, showing no haste to send reinforcements.

Until today.

At Xiapi City in the southwest of Donghai Commandery, the Wu Han army of twenty thousand men, advancing by both fleet and land route, was preparing to strike camp and set out on campaign.

Liu Xiu, accompanied by Liu Zhi, stood atop the city wall observing the great army.

After the destruction of Liu Ziyu, Liu Zhi, who had fled from Hebei, had wandered through many places, intending to join Liang Han. When Liang Han was broken by the Red Eyebrows, he could only continue south and finally made his way to Huainan.

At first, the assembled ministers of Wu Han all believed that since Liu Zhi still stubbornly insisted that Liu Ziyu was the true Liu, a perversion of his ancestors, he should be cast aside and not employed.

But Liu Xiu did not take offense. After listening to Liu Zhi's account of the solemn and stirring story of Liu Ziyu's resistance against Diwu Lun, he held a funeral for Liu Ziyu and even promised that in the future, he might "bestow the Liu surname" upon Liu Ziyu, enfeoff him as a king, and settle on a posthumous name — these were things only an Emperor could do, yet the Prince of Wu had kept delaying and not proclaimed himself Emperor, leaving his followers burning with impatience.

As for Liu Zhi, Liu Xiu considered him wholly devoted to the Han, appointed him as Assistant General, and even enfeoffed him as a marquis.

"The Boxian family were formerly the Marquis of Changcheng. There is also a place in the south named 'Chang.' You, sir, shall for now be the 'Marquis of Nanchang'!"

Pointing out the mountains and rivers, Liu Xiu was somewhat moved: "I too have left my hometown, drifting from Chongling in Nanyang to this land of Wu and Yue in the southeast. Is this not like the story of Zhou Taibo and Zhongyong fleeing to Wu in ancient times?"

"The two of them tattooed their bodies and cut their hair, lowering themselves to the level of barbarians to yield to their worthy younger brother Jili. But no matter how they cut it, the root remained connected; they were still a Ji of the southeast."

For Liu Xiu, Taibo had passed away, and only Zhongyong remained in the world. The ideal his elder brother had not fulfilled could only be realized by him now.

He said to Liu Zhi, "No matter where one is, one must always remember certain things about one's hometown. Even more so, one must remember that this 'Liu' surname of ours is a legacy of the bloodline of Emperor Gao!"

Therefore, at this juncture when Diwu Lun's proclamation that "the Han house's allotted fortune is exhausted" was known throughout the realm, Liu Xiu would accept all those still willing to rally to the Han banner and fight for the restoration of the Great Han.

After sharing a couch and sitting together a few times and becoming familiar, Liu Xiu would also bluntly ask Liu Zhi, "What does Boxian think — how do I compare to Liu Ziyu? Which of us is more like Emperor Gao?"

Liu Zhi spoke frankly: "Although Sixing (Liu Ziyu) had great ambition, he was fond of mystification and lacked a certain forthrightness. Looking at Your Majesty, on the other hand, your brilliance, judgment, courage, and strategic vision are unmatched by any man. Moreover, you are open and sincere, hiding nothing, magnanimous and mindful of the greater principles — somewhat on a par with Emperor Gao."

Hearing Liu Zhi praise him as comparable to Emperor Gao, Liu Xiu burst out laughing: "Not so. Emperor Gao could ascend to the heavens and plunge into the earth; there was nothing he could not do. I now take pleasure in governance, handling administrative affairs just right, and I am not fond of drinking — far inferior to Emperor Gao!"

But wait — put that way, wasn't the Prince of Wu, being so self-disciplined, actually superior to Emperor Gao? Yet when pressed further, Liu Xiu only smiled and did not answer. This was an insight he had gained over several years as a ruler; how could he casually speak of it? He merely said, "However, even one endowed with heaven-sent talent like Emperor Gao had times of defeat."

Liu Xiu was referring to the great defeat at Pengcheng…

That was the stain on Liu Bang's entire life. A coalition army of five hundred sixty thousand, having clearly taken the old nest of Western Chu, with the realm seemingly about to be settled — yet it was routed utterly by Xiang Yu with thirty thousand troops. The old Liu family's ability to flee was exercised to the extreme: father and wife were abandoned, and he nearly kicked his own children off the carriage.

But Liu Xiu believed that the tactics Xiang Yu used at the Battle of Pengcheng were well worth his study…

"The Red Eyebrow Pang An's force, nearly a hundred thousand strong, is plundering the Si River region and has besieged Pengcheng for nearly two months, still refusing to leave. Their aim is to lure me into coming to the rescue."

The Red Eyebrows were deeply versed in fishing tactics. Liu Xiu had not taken the bait at first, but now that matters had reached this point, this battle had to be fought.

Because Liu Xiu had received word that Diwu Lun, as soon as the Longyou campaign had ended, was impatiently advancing his army into the Central Plains.

The assembled ministers of Wu Han were overjoyed, believing that the Red Eyebrows could entangle Diwu Lun in battle for several years, allowing them to leisurely take control of the south and even advance into Qing Province.

But Liu Xiu thought otherwise.

The very structure of the Red Eyebrows determined that they were not a regime capable of sustained warfare.

"The Red Eyebrows will either win a great victory or suffer a great defeat. There is no exception."

"The Red Eyebrows will likely be no match for Diwu. At the latest by autumn, at the earliest by spring, the outcome will be decided!"

Sure enough, when news came that Ma Yuan had heavily defeated the Red Eyebrows at Aocang, Liu Xiu grew even less optimistic about the Red Eyebrows: "Diwu Lun excels in military strategy. He will surely drive the Red Eyebrow wolves to devour me, the Jiangdong tiger, making us both wounded while he profits."

Therefore, before the great decisive battle in the north was decided, he had to construct a complete Huaibei Fence. No matter whether it was the Red Eyebrows or the Wei army that came, he had to block them.

Some within Wu Han also voiced concern: "Even if Pang An is merely a detached branch of the Red Eyebrows, he is still one of the Five Lords, with a hundred thousand bandits under his command. Meanwhile, our main army is still in Jiangxia. Even if we conscript all the troops of Huainan and Jiangdong, we can only field a little over twenty thousand men for this campaign."

Liu Xiu, however, said, "It is true that the enemy outnumbers us, but these twenty thousand men are mostly Danyang troops who have taken part in destroying Huainan and suppressing the Shanyue. They can be considered passable." Liu Xiu had at last preserved an idiom that belonged to him, not letting Diwu Lun "unintentionally" snatch it away.

"Besides, I've fought battles with even greater odds than this!"

These words rang with absolute conviction, and no one raised any further objection. Though there were many commanders in the world, only Liu Xiu was qualified to say such a thing!

Liu Zhi's admiration grew deeper. In the past, he had been drawn to Liu Ziyu, but from what he saw today, Liu Xiu's personal charisma surpassed Ziyu's by a few degrees — for Liu Ziyu often spoke grandly but rarely delivered, whereas Liu Xiu was the complete opposite: grounded and practical, step by step building up the last hope of the Han house in Huainan and Jiangdong.

And when the moment demanded he display heroic spirit, Liu Xiu would step forward without hesitation — who else but me?

Now, with word arriving from Lai Xi that he would personally lead a detached force around the rear from the northern part of Donghai, repeating the flanking attack that Xiang Yu had used to work miracles in his day, Liu Xiu's main army also began advancing toward Pengcheng.

Liu Xiu merely rallied everyone, saying: "The Battle of Kunyang was to establish myself — it was then that the name Xiu first became known throughout the realm."

"The Battle of Hefei was to establish our house — by seizing Huainan, we finally gained a foothold in the southeast, no longer having to be homeless strays."

"But when you, my lords, repeatedly urged me to take the throne, I declined each time — because, to this day, the house of Han has been dragged through the mud and cast aside. The Greenwood's Liu Xuan abandoned his capital and fled, drifting to southern Jing; the child Ying in Longyou was cast off by his own power-holders and offered up to Gongsun Shu as a plaything."

"Liu Ziyu of Hebei, though a false Liu, still met his death at Diwu's hands; Prince of Liang Liu Yong, puffed up with self-importance — his rise was swift, and his fall just as sudden."

Liu Xiu could only feel helpless. The awe-inspiring reputation he had won at Kunyang, the good name of the Han house — all of it had been steadily ruined by these kinsmen, bit by bit. In just three short years, it had gone from all hearts yearning for Han to, today, no one even speaking of restoring Han anymore…

What a pity it was.

The Great Han could not be rebuilt through mere forbearance and complacent corner-holding alone. It needed a great victory that would shake the realm, to rally men's hearts!

"The Battle of Pengcheng."

"Is the battle to establish the state!"

……

PS: Actually, compared to history, I've already cut back again and again, but every time I write Liu Xiu, even when I let his great generals die, impose restrictions on him, or even leave him idle and unmoving, people still say he's cheating… Fine, I'll drop the act. I, Seventh-Place Wei, am going to give Xiu'er his cheat mode!