Chapter 567: An Urgent Appeal

In early April of the third year of Wude (AD 27), in Rang County, Nanyang Commandery (present-day Deng County, Henan), an army of several thousand men seized one of its townships and raised a banner: "The Nanyang Troops!"

This armed force was, naturally, the band under Deng Feng that had ventured north from the Jianghan region. In his view, he had seized every advantage — the right time, the right place, and the right people.

"Wei and Han, two tigers, are locked in combat over Jingxiang. Cen Peng is too busy fighting Feng Yi for Xiangyang to spare a thought for me — this is the right time."

"Nanyang is the north-south thoroughfare, Cen Peng's rear area. Once chaos erupts here, the Wei army, which originally held the advantage, will fall into dire straits. Even if they turn back, I can rely on the natural defenses of mountain streams to defeat them — this is the right place."

"We are Nanyang men to begin with, while the Wei army, apart from a few like Cen Peng and Yin Shi, is mostly made up of outside troops. The common folk, hearing a familiar tongue, will naturally incline their hearts toward us. With justice on our side, we shall have abundant support — this is the right people."

That was why Deng Feng's force called itself "the Nanyang Troops," hoping to win local support, solve the problems of provisions and recruits, and give his venture a fighting chance.

Deng Feng was shrewd enough not to charge straight north, back to his hometown of Xinye. Instead, he took a roundabout route, first striking the weakly defended western parts of Nanyang held by the Wei army. After capturing Rang County, his scouts returned with word that Xinye was indeed garrisoned by over ten thousand Wei troops — Cen Peng's rear echelon.

Gathering provisions did not go as smoothly as he had hoped, either. Having been picked clean twice over by the Red Eyebrows and the Wei army, Nanyang was nothing like it had been a few years ago. Deng Feng could not simply move through it like a fish through water. The plan to fight his way straight back to his hometown was proving difficult, but just as Deng Feng hesitated, an unexpected delight came his way.

"Zhao Boyang is actually still alive!"

Deng Feng was overjoyed at the news. Zhao Xi was his subordinate officer and childhood friend. Zhao Xi had earlier been ordered to hold Shandu, but had come under attack by a Wei flanking force. The county seat had fallen, and after that there had been no word of him.

When Zhao Xi arrived in Rang County, he looked gaunt and much thinner. He gave Deng Feng a concise report of the previous month's events:

"The Wei army's objective was to take Shandu and gain full control of the Han River waterway, so they could more easily dispatch naval forces south from Danyang. Seeing that the city was hard to hold, I led my remaining troops in a breakout to the west and barely escaped with my life. I could only lead a few hundred men in circles around Mount Wudang in western Nanyang."

Deng Feng, however, sensed something amiss: "Then how did you, Boyang, end up here?"

Zhao Xi revealed the reason for his coming: "It was because, after withdrawing to the vicinity of Mount Wudang, we received aid from General Jia of the Cheng family!"

Deng Feng was taken aback: "Jia Fu, Jia Junwen?"

"Indeed. General Jia has also marched his army eastward and entered Nanyang. He has already seized Champion County. Hearing that you, General Deng, were here, he sent me to meet with you. He wishes to discuss great matters together!"

…

A day's journey west of Rang County lay the renowned Champion County, the fief of Huo Qubing, named after his marquis title. Champion was also Jia Fu's hometown; it was no wonder he could so easily drive out the Wei officials and take the county. Champion County had now changed its banners, flying the pure white Golden Heaven flag of the Cheng family…

Deng Feng gazed at that white banner from afar. When the gates of Champion County opened, over a hundred horse and foot soldiers galloped forth. The commander at their head rode a black horse, his figure tall and powerfully built.

Deng Feng, with Zhao Xi beside him, rode forward to meet Jia Fu.

"Junwen! After so many years apart, your bearing is as impressive as ever!"

Jia Fu was not much older than the youthful Zhao Xi. Both he and Deng Feng had once served under Liu Bosheng. Compared to the past, Jia Fu had changed little; the biggest difference was that he had begun to grow a beard.

In the face of Deng Feng's goodwill, Jia Fu merely stared at him without a word. Their territories were not far apart, and Deng Feng had sent men to make contact more than once, but the arrogant Jia Fu had ignored him all along. That he now took the initiative to parley was purely out of necessity, forced by a common enemy.

After looking Deng Feng up and down, Jia Fu said coldly: "Deng Fengxian, for a true man to live in this world, what matters are the two words 'loyalty' and 'righteousness.' You abandoned the Gengshi Emperor to serve the King of Chuli, serving two masters — that is disloyalty."

"However, I also know that the Greenwood Court was fatuous and the Gengshi Emperor incompetent. After Hanzhong fell, I too pledged myself to the Gongsun Emperor, choosing a Shu tree to roost in. I cannot lay claim to the word 'loyalty' either."

His tone shifted as Jia Fu leveled his spear at Deng Feng and said: "But the word 'righteousness' — that alone I have never dared forget to this day. General Bosheng was our benefactor and lord, yet you abandoned Liu Bosheng at Tongyuan and withdrew south on your own. That is unrighteousness!"

Deng Feng's men grew quite uneasy, suspecting this invitation was a trap laid by Jia Fu. Deng Feng, however, was utterly unafraid and replied frankly:

"Liu Bosheng raised you, Junwen, from a bandit of Wudang and promoted you to Greenwood Colonel — he was your benefactor, true. But to the Deng clan, the Liu clan were merely in-laws and old friends, not worth burying the entire family alongside him. Back then, Liu Bosheng refused all counsel and plunged his lone army deep into Guanzhong. Whether I withdrew first or not, the defeat at the Wei River was unavoidable."

"If you, Junwen, wish to avenge Liu Bosheng, go find Diwu Lun! Why berate me? In my view, fixating on serving only the Chongling Liu clan is a petty righteousness. Preserving the lives and cultural legacy of the Nanyang clans as a man of Nanyang — that is the greater righteousness!"

Deng Feng pointed at the sons of Nanyang's powerful families behind him and said: "There are two reasons for my coming north this time. First, my lord the King of Chuli is at war with the Wei general Cen Peng. Though he has gained Han's aid, the battle is deadlocked. I took the initiative to penetrate deep into the enemy's rear, hoping to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao and break the stalemate in the south."

"Second, it is to bring these several thousand sons of Nanyang back to their homeland!"

The first point Deng Feng made was false; the second was the truth. But to win Jia Fu's sympathy, he could only sigh with emotion: "I truly envy you, Junwen, having already retaken your hometown. Xinye, however, is still in Wei hands, held by a heavy garrison and difficult to attack."

With that, he cupped his hands in salute: "These are my reasons for marching. May I ask why you, Junwen, have returned to Nanyang?"

Jia Fu looked at Deng Feng. He knew that no matter how detestable this man was, for now they could only cooperate temporarily to achieve his own goal. So he said: "I won't hide it from you, Fengxian. It is not easy for a Nanyang man to hold office in Shu. Within the Cheng regime, there is the faction of the Gongsun imperial clan's old associates and the faction of the native Ba-Shu gentry, yet both ostracize and slander the generals who surrendered from Hanzhong. I have endured it until now, but I never expected to be framed by Wei spies, who claimed that during border trade I allowed counterfeit iron coins to enter. Counterfeit coins — Jia coins!"

"The Gongsun Emperor mistakenly heeded slanderous talk and actually ordered the army supervisor to strip me of my authority. Since that is how things stand, I had no choice but to march out on my own initiative, to show that I and Wei cannot coexist under the same sky!"

Although Jia Fu was straightforward by nature, he had kept some cunning in reserve. Having recently been slandered and even facing the danger of losing his military command, he was thoroughly disillusioned with Gongsun Shu and simply planned to defect to Liu Xiu of the Eastern Han.

But Jia Fu also felt that going to surrender empty-handed would be a disgrace. Seeing Han and Wei contending for Jingxiang, he wanted to sow chaos in Wei's rear and help the Han army. If by chance he could take Nanyang, he would not only restore his homeland but also present Liu Xiu with a grand gift.

The two men talked, mixing truth and falsehood, and after comparing notes, they found their objectives were more or less the same.

"I only wonder where you, Fengxian, intend to go next?" Jia Fu wanted to know where Deng Feng's blade was pointed, and whether it could be used to his own advantage.

Deng Feng still spoke evasively: "I originally intended to take Xinye, but Cen Peng's rear army of over ten thousand is stationed there. Would you, Junwen, be willing to aid me?"

Jia Fu laughed heartily: "Then I intend to drive straight for Wancheng and cut off the dog's head of that brat Yin Shi. Would you, Fengxian, care to come along?"

Both were jokes. Though both men were skilled in battle, their troops were weary and worn. Even taking Xinye was uncertain, let alone Wancheng with its high walls and deep moats. Moreover, the Red Eyebrows had stripped Nanyang so thoroughly clean that it was hard for the two of them to even find local strongmen to coordinate with.

After sounding each other out for a while, it was Deng Feng who proposed: "Since both Xinye and Wancheng are difficult to take, why don't we first strike at their weakest and most critical point?"

Jia Fu asked in return: "Where in Nanyang is the weakest, yet can grip the Wei army by the throat?"

Deng Feng pointed to the west: "Naturally, it is between Wu Pass and Wancheng."

This perfectly matched Jia Fu's own intent. He clapped his hands in praise: "Take Danyang first — excellent!"

This Danyang was not the Danyang in Jiangdong, but "north of the Dan River," encompassing the Dan River, Xi County, and other places. It was the storage depot where the Wei army's grain from Guanzhong was sent on to Wancheng.

"Seizing the several counties of Danyang will cut off all traffic between Guanzhong and Nanyang."

"Correct. Then we can observe the situation. In retreat, we can go west into Hanzhong; in advance, we can go east and take Wancheng!"

…

In that same early April in Nanyang, someone braved the summer rain, riding a light carriage, racing without pause along the muddy road from Xinye to Wancheng.

"Driver, can you go any faster?"

Liu Penzi lifted the carriage curtain and asked.

"Young master, in this wind and rain, this is as fast as we can go." The driver knew Liu Penzi was anxious and tried to console him: "Chongling has suffered a raid by Han troops. The County Magistrate died in battle, and only Assistant Magistrate Liu remains, trapped defending the county town. But this military intelligence was already sent to Wancheng by relay riders long ago — it may even have reached the Emperor's desk by now. Even if you, young master, deliver it again, it won't be of much use."

How could Liu Penzi not know this? Since March, several counties in southeastern Nanyang — Caiyang, Chongling, and others — had been raided by the Han army under Ma Wu. Yet Cen Peng paid no attention at all to the chaos in his rear. His forward army was still fiercely assaulting Xiangyang, and his rear army was only protecting the most critical Xinye, showing every sign of abandoning the peripheral areas and letting the counties like Chongling fend for themselves.

And Yin Shi, the Governor of Nanyang, had not immediately dispatched troops to their rescue either. Ma Wu moved as if through an uninhabited land.

Liu Penzi's elder brother Liu Gong was the Assistant Magistrate of Chongling. Seeing that some Chongling people who had been "firmly anti-Han" at the start of the year were now turning into fence-sitters as the situation changed, he feared the county town would be hard to hold. He therefore once again sent his private retainers to escort Liu Penzi to Wancheng, hoping only that he could present the gravity of the situation to Yin Shi in person.

The weakness of Wei's control over newly conquered territories was laid bare. In places like Caiyang, not only were Han guerrilla troops swaggering through the markets, but bandits lurking in the mountain forests also seized the chance to emerge and cause havoc. The counties that had barely known peace for less than a year reverted to the wretched sight of soldiers and bandits running rampant. Sharing the road with Liu Penzi were refugees who had abandoned their homes, helping the old and carrying the young as they fled north. Their faces were filled with numbness. Since the Greenwood rebellion against the Xin dynasty, over these past several years, exile had long ceased to be anything new.

But after reaching Xinye and the surrounding area, Liu Penzi was astonished to find that these places were still firmly in the hands of Wei officials, held down by the rear army Cen Peng had left behind. Further north, to Jiyang, Cen Peng's own hometown, order was also strictly maintained.

"Could it be that Cen Peng and Yin Shi care only for their own hometowns and ignore all the other counties?" Comparing it to Chongling, where calamity and chaos ran rampant, Liu Penzi could hardly help but form such a thought.

By the time they reached Wancheng, Liu Penzi was even more exasperated. The war seemed not to have changed life here at all — the markets still bustled — yet rumors and whispers abounded; beneath the calm, hearts were full of dread.

Word had it that Deng Feng and Jia Fu had also broken through in the west and were operating around Champion County. With Nanyang on the verge of chaos, why were the two chief military and civil officials not the least bit anxious? What hidden trump cards did they hold that could guarantee Nanyang's stability?

Liu Penzi held no official post; he was merely "the Assistant Magistrate's younger brother." By rights, securing an audience with the Governor was exceedingly difficult. Fortunately, his elder brother Liu Gong had once served under Cen Peng and Yin Shi, had contributed greatly when taking over the Red Eyebrows' remnant administration, and still retained some personal connections.

He waited a full day, and at last, through a report made by one of Yin Shi's aides, he gained entry by the back gate of the Governor's mansion and waited in the covered corridor where visitors were received.

Liu Penzi nervously straightened his robes and cap, then touched the letter in his bosom — a letter written in blood from his brother's bitten finger, imploring the Governor not to abandon the officials and people of Chongling.

Unfortunately, that aide soon returned with regret to tell him: "The Governor has a great matter to attend to. He just left directly through the front gate of the government compound with his retinue. I fear he cannot receive you today. Return to your lodgings for now."

"I cannot see him today?" Liu Penzi was greatly alarmed. "Then when can I see him?"

"I do not know, I do not know. It is truly a great matter; who knows how long the Governor will be occupied." The aide prevaricated, wanting to shoo away this troublesome young man. But Liu Penzi, as befitted a man who had once tended oxen for the Red Eyebrow Army, possessed an ox's stubbornness. He seized the Governor's aide by the hand and would not let go, insisting on a definite answer.

"How can I give you a definite answer!"

The Governor's aide grew anxious and could only lay the truth bare to Liu Penzi: "This matter will soon cease to be a secret, so I shall speak frankly with you. You have come at a most inopportune time!"

He lowered his voice: "The Wei Son of Heaven is on a southern tour and has arrived at Wan. Governor Yin is busy receiving the imperial carriage — how could he have the leisure to see a young whelp like you!"