Chapter 558: The Prey

The people of Chongling still remember: five years ago, Whitewater Village was the storm center of the uprising against the Xin dynasty.

In those days, the brothers Liu Bosheng and Liu Wenshu — what heroes they were! Bosheng was the first to mount the platform, raising his arm and shouting, calling on the Liu clan of Chongling to root out calamity and chaos, to punish the wayless, to restore the enterprise of Emperor Gaozu, to settle the ages for ten thousand generations, to revive the altars of the Han house, and to make the flame-essence blaze brighter!

At that moment, every soul in Chongling called themselves Han soldiers, raising high their halberds and spears, cheering "Long live the Great Han!"

And now, the people gathered below the platform were much the same: former slaves of the Chongling Lius, tenant farmers from villages for miles around, or ordinary country folk — many of them had taken part in the uprising of the Liu brothers. Yet the slogans they shouted were no longer "Revive the Great Han," but curses and spittle heaped upon the captured members of the Liu family.

The denunciation by the local village Elder was especially moving:

"Five years ago, when the Liu clan raised troops, my eldest son had always revered Liu Wenshu's character. He said he would follow the Bosheng brothers and become a hero of the Han restoration. But in just a few short months, he was killed in the great defeat at Little Chang'an. I had to go myself to collect his corpse."

As he spoke, tears soaked his collar: "Four years ago, Liu Bosheng took the remaining Chongling troops to Guanzhong, saying he would return the Great Han to its old capital. My younger son went with him, boasting he would bring back a hundred jin of gold from Chang'an. But after that, there was no word from him. Only later did we learn he died on the River Wei. Of the two thousand young men who went with him, hardly any returned."

An entire generation of Chongling was sacrificed like this to the cause of restoring the Han — and what reward did they get?

Nothing — nothing at all! And of course: the promises of reward that Liu Bosheng and Liu Xiu made when they raised troops — what did those have to do with the Gengshi Emperor, Liu Xuan? At most he looked after his own Liu clansmen. The rest, their fellow villagers and neighbors, shed blood and sweat for two years for nothing. Naturally, their hearts were full of resentment.

These words drew a chorus of agreement: "Liu Xuan is a Chongling man too. After he became emperor, the Greenwood chieftains and the Liu clansmen were mostly enfeoffed as nobles — they got their wealth and rank. But what about the Chongling people who fought and bled for years to restore the Han? They didn't even get a plot of land or a house. Lose an arm and beg in Wancheng — no one cares. Can't work the fields and ask for a post — no one pays attention. The Chongling men who earned the greatest merit were forgotten in the countryside, left to die in the great drought! These days are worse than under the Xin and Wang Mang!"

Add to that the great chaos the Red Eyebrows brought later, and Chongling's population was cut in half. Those who remained were terrified of hunger and craved only peace and stability — they truly had no wish for more upheaval.

It helped that Cen Peng's army discipline was strict, and that he was a local man of Nanyang — the people here did not resist him too strongly. After barely half a year of settled life under Wei army suppression, the Chongling Lius came back to stir up rebellion, demanding they turn against Wei and welcome the Han...

Where were you before?!

When Liu Xuan was misruling, when the Red Eyebrows ran rampant, when bandits wrought havoc — Liu Xiu was in the southeast and never once cared whether his hometown folk lived or died. But now, he suddenly remembers?

Facing the curses of their fellow villagers, the several Liu clansmen whom Liu Xiu had sent back felt only bewilderment.

Five years ago, to support them, the people of Chongling had sent every son to join the army, offered up their grain, torn out every piece of red cloth in their homes — and when even that was not enough, they slaughtered livestock and drenched the cloth in blood. The uprising began at sunset; the sky above was a blazing cinnabar red, and below, the banners swayed with a crimson glow that answered it. Above the platform and below it, all was a red sea...

Five years later, today, at the same place, on the Uprising Platform, it was a sea of red again — but the color was much deeper: seven Liu clansmen stood in reddish-brown prison garb, wearing tall reddish-brown hats, displayed before the crowd. And as the Assistant Magistrate gave the order, one by one, under the executioner's blade, their heads were struck off. The flowing blood stained the earth red — so thick and dark it was red tinged with black!

Faced with this bloody slaughter, the people of Chongling fell silent for a moment, deeply shaken in their hearts. Curse as they might, many still held respect and admiration for Liu Bosheng and Liu Xiu. But could that faint sentiment compare with getting on with their lives? Looking at the situation, the Liu family could not overturn heaven — better to keep their heads down and be obedient subjects from now on.

And as one Liu head after another fell to the ground, it produced another effect: the crowd, terrified that their hard-won fields might be taken back, actually breathed a sigh of relief: "Chongling no longer bears the name Liu."

For a moment, they even began to cheer. Perhaps sensing the gaze of the Wei officials and soldiers, the rest gradually joined in the shouting. In a daze, it was as if they had returned to five years ago.

That moment, that time — exactly like this moment, this time. So startlingly alike.

Only Liu Gong, the Chongling Assistant Magistrate who had overseen the entire process and personally given the order for execution, watching the fickleness of human hearts, merely sighed to his younger brother, Liu Penzi.

"This time, Liu Xiu misjudged the people of Chongling."

"In their hearts, they long ago stopped yearning for the Han!"

In late January of the third year of Wude, when word of the suppression of the Sui County and Chongling rebellions by a few thousand garrison troops reached the camp of General Who Guards the South at Xinye County, Cen Peng could not help but exclaim, "Excellent!"

But Cen Peng still felt a lingering fear: "To send several hundred men back to their hometowns before the main battle began, to stir the discontented into revolt — if it had succeeded, Sui County and Chongling would certainly have been thrown into chaos. That festering sore would have spread northward, and I would have had to leave at least ten thousand men to rush there and suppress it. Their aim of dividing my forces would have been achieved."

He admitted that Liu Xiu's move was indeed vicious. It was only fortunate that the Wei side had Yin Shi, who knew the Liu family well, and had foreseen trouble in the south. Following Diwu Lun's micromanagement, they had sent people months in advance to conduct propaganda in Liu Xiu's hometown and tilted policies to restore peace and stability to Chongling.

Even more crucially, a month earlier, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had provided intelligence, allowing Cen Peng to swiftly dispatch two or three thousand men to reinforce Sui County and stamp out the flames before they could spread.

Cen Peng could not help but look toward Embroidered Uniform Commandant Zhang Yu, whom Diwu Lun had sent to assist on the southern front: "Zili, this time you have truly earned great merit."

Zhang Yu's antipathy was reserved solely for Wu Han and Gai Yan; toward a genial general like Cen Peng, he cooperated wholeheartedly. He laughed: "The one who truly earned the merit is the 'mole' in Eastern Han!"

Liu Xiu's side was also full of rival factions, by no means a monolithic bloc. In particular, the Greenwood and Nanyang forces who had joined later had not received much benefit; compared to the noble titles and wealth they had enjoyed under the Gengshi Emperor, a sense of grievance was only natural.

Thus, even though the Wei army in Nanyang had already positioned itself against the great powerful families, there were still those in Liu Xiu's camp who clung to wishful thinking. Under the gold offensive of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's agents, they expressed willingness to cooperate, sending bits of intelligence every few days to the Guard's Nanyang branch.

But as for exactly who that mole was, Zhang Yu was tight-lipped. According to the rules Diwu Lun had set for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, matters involving spies and agents could not be disclosed even to a regional general like Cen Peng.

Zhang Yu only told Cen Peng in vague terms: "This mole's position is actually not high; he cannot access the most secret matters. This time, it was by chance that he was ordered to welcome Li Tong and Deng Chen — but even he could not say what their specific mission was. I promised this man that as long as he continues to deliver intelligence, once Great Wei unifies the lands north of the Yangtze, his family's lands and estates will all be returned in full."

In Nanyang Commandery, many estates and fields had indeed been confiscated as public property and not granted to locals. But too many families were involved, spread across a dozen counties, and Cen Peng could not guess who it was. He smiled and let it pass, turning to the main business: "If Liu Xiu truly intended to attack Sui County and Chongling and return to Nanyang, he would not have sent only a few hundred or a thousand men to cause trouble. It seems the main Han force is, just as His Majesty feared, planning to follow the Han River and strike straight for Xiangyang!"

The importance of Xiangyang was something Cen Peng and Diwu Lun had discussed at length in their correspondence. Liu Xiu's camp also had no shortage of capable men, and they should be able to see that this place was pivotal in the north-south contest — a city that must be taken!

"That is indeed the case." Zhang Yu's main work was intelligence. The Embroidered Uniform Guard had no shortage of agents in Jingzhou, and they had observed in recent months that Feng Yi had already assembled his naval and land forces, moving them from E territory to the edge of Cloud Dream Marsh, with clear signs of preparing to cross northward.

Cen Peng looked at the southern end of the map. The long, narrow Han River flowed from Xiangyang all the way into Cloud Dream Marsh. Whatever else might be said, after several years of operating in the south and co-opting large numbers of river bandits, the Han army's navy was indeed relatively strong. For them, great rivers and vast lakes were not obstacles but highways for rapid troop movement.

"The main Chu forces are in the west and north; along the shores of Cloud Dream Marsh and the banks of the Han River, there are not many. I fear they cannot stop Feng Yi."

With ample intelligence work, the shape of the war grew ever clearer in Cen Peng's mind: "If Feng Yi truly resolves to take Xiangyang, he will encounter no strong enemy along the way. The greatest obstacle is the five-hundred-li journey in between..."

"But from Xinye to Xiangyang is only two hundred li."

Cen Peng speculated: "Liu Xiu and Feng Yi want to make me arrive after them, so they can only set up more obstacles. Now that the Sui County and Chongling revolts failed to ignite, I expect their next step will be to lobby Deng Feng in Deng County, to do everything they can to hold me back!"

"Exactly!" Zhang Yu said. "According to what we've learned, Liu Xiu sent Li Tong and Deng Chen west. Li Tong has already appeared; Deng Chen must be in Deng County!"

Among the northern forces of the King of Chuli, Deng Feng had five or six thousand men of powerful-family militia, stationed at Deng County, forty li north of Xiangyang.

As the throat between Wan and Xiang, Deng County's strategic importance lay in the sheer density of its forests.

"Legend says that when Kuafu chased the sun, he finally collapsed from exhaustion and cast aside his staff. Soaked in the fat and flesh of his body, it gave rise to the Deng Forest..."

The three-hundred-li Deng Forest completely shrouded the northern bank of the Han River. Within it were countless ancient trees, a thousand years old and more, that had not been fully felled from the time of Chu to the Han — only a few narrow paths had been opened, hindering the movement of large armies. Moreover, Deng County sat with its back to the Han River, facing Xiangyang across the water, the two forming a mutually supporting pair.

In later ages, this place would have another name: Fancheng.

Therefore, if the Wei army wished to take Xiang, it must first capture Deng!

"Deng Feng was already unwilling to submit to Wei. If he now listens to his uncle's persuasion and resolves to aid the Han, Deng County will be even harder to attack."

Cen Peng laughed: "It seems I am closer in distance, but the obstacle of the Han River between Xiang and Deng alone is enough to cancel out that advantage."

Zhang Yu suggested: "General, your earlier dispatch of men to slander the Shu general Jia Fu has already borne fruit. Although Gongsun Shu did not remove him from his post and even appointed another general, he still sent trusted aides to keep an eye on Jia Fu."

"We can certainly use the same trick again. Now the King of Chuli is beset by enemies on all sides and must be full of suspicion. Although Deng Feng cut off the ears of the Wei envoy to prove his loyalty to the King of Chuli, his ability to refuse Wei does not mean he would not surrender to Han! If we send men to spread word that he is secretly in league with Liu Xiu and Deng Chen, those lord and vassal will surely fall to mutual suspicion!"

"You may proceed freely." Cen Peng approved Zhang Yu's plan, but added: "However, these tricks, like Liu Xiu sending envoys to disrupt my rear, are merely unorthodox tactics. They will not succeed every time. True victory must still be won by orthodox engagement!"

Cen Peng then issued his order: "Apart from the troops left to garrison Wancheng and Sui County, the remaining forty thousand men are to strike camp and follow me south in full force!"

On the surface, this was a hunting contest. The prey was the city of Xiangyang, and Cen Peng and Feng Yi were two hunters, sharpening their weapons and feeding their horses, positioned north and south, each racing to see who could overcome the obstacles and seize the prize first.

But in Cen Peng's mind, this battle had an even simpler solution.

"Xiangyang is important — like a great elk."

"But a hunter's arrow need not be aimed only at the deer. It can also be aimed at the man!"

Cen Peng set a target quite different from what Diwu Lun had first imagined:

"My real quarry is Feng Yi!"