Chapter 587: And a Little Like Laughing

"Great King, Geng Yan has already marched south from Gaomi Commandery."

"In a matter of days, Geng Yan has seized Gumu County and his troops now press against Dongwu, the seat of Langya Commandery."

At the end of the ninth month of the third year of Wude (AD 27), Geng Yan's great army wheeled south from Qing Province and began entering the borders of Langya. News of county after county falling reached the ears of the King of Qi, Zhang Bu, making him ever more anxious and restless. He repeatedly pressed Fang Wang, the envoy who had come as the Han Emperor's alliance-broker.

"I not only joined the alliance, I was even willing to agree to declare myself a vassal to Liu Xiu. Now half a month has passed, winter is already upon us, and when exactly will the Han Emperor dispatch troops north to save me? And where, Master Fang, is this 'turn of fortune' you spoke of?"

Fang Wang knew full well that, with Diwu Lun personally campaigning in Xu Province, Liu Xiu was scraping together able-bodied men from Jiangdong and Huainan just to barely hold on — he likely did not even have enough men to defend Pengcheng, so how could he possibly come to Zhang Bu's rescue?

But he could not speak the truth. The situation was far too unfavorable for the alliance. If Pengcheng fell, Liu Xiu would lose any chance of contending with Diwu Lun for the Central Plains. He had to deceive Zhang Bu into holding firm at Ju City and blocking Geng Bozhao's army of Qi-conquest from pushing south. That way, Liu Xiu — who had proclaimed he would "surely defend Pengcheng" — would not have to face enemies on two fronts.

And so Fang Wang once again began to hoodwink the King of Qi: "Great King, in the Spring and Autumn period, the state of Ju once stood as an equal to Qi and Lu, dominating the lands between the sea and Mount Tai. Not even King Fuchai of Wu or King Goujian of Yue could do anything against it. It was only in the Warring States period that it was destroyed when the men of Chu advanced north via Xu Province."

This Ju City was in the area of what would later be Rizhao in Shandong, situated between the central Shandong highlands and the eastern Shandong hills. The terrain was extremely complex, making it another Xiangyang of the Haidai region. Only the narrow fault zones along the Yi and Shu rivers could accommodate large troop movements, and Ju City was wedged right in the middle — the Wei army could never simply bypass it.

Fang Wang offered his counsel: "Attacking from south to north, Ju City still has weak points. But attacking from north to south, Ju City is as if forged of iron and built of stone. Geng Bozhao has been fighting bitterly for months on end; his troops have marched long distances without rest and can absolutely never breach Ju City! In my view, the various counties of Langya can safely be abandoned. There is no need to contest every city and every patch of ground. Instead, concentrate your forces and defend Ju alone. Relying on the autumn harvest grain, Ju City can easily endure the harsh winter. We shall hold out within the warm city walls, while Geng Yan, pressed by the bitter cold afflicting his three armies, will surely be forced to temporarily withdraw."

"In this way, we can wait for the Han Emperor to defeat Diwu Lun, and then he will dispatch troops to help the Great King restore his kingdom!"

Zhang Bu frowned and said nothing. The great defeat at Linzi had nearly broken him entirely. He had become slovenly, drowning himself in drink all day long. From what Fang Wang was saying, Liu Xiu would not send a single soldier to help — he would still have to rely on himself. Although Fang Wang kept insisting that Ju City was impregnable, hadn't they thought the same about Jinan and Linzi back then? Zhang Bu had been beaten into fear. In his eyes, Geng Yan was a figure like Han Xin, someone he was absolutely no match for.

Fang Wang, terrified that Zhang Bu would lose his will to fight, once more volunteered for a mission: "Though the Han Emperor cannot send troops for now, west of Ju City lie Mount Tai and Lu Commandery. The remnants of the Red Eyebrows are entrenched in those two commanderies, still numbering in the 'tens of thousands.' On my last visit, I nearly persuaded the Red Eyebrow Elder Xu Xuan to join the alliance. I am willing now to go once more to Qufu and have the Red Eyebrows send troops to raid and plunder Qing Province. Once the land of Qi is thrown into turmoil, Geng Bozhao will have no choice but to turn back and will be unable to press south with full force against Ju!"

"That is all we can do." Although Zhang Bu nodded in agreement, his gaze was somewhat shifty; in his heart, he had little confidence in this plan.

After seeing Fang Wang off, Zhang Bu drank wine in the hall for the entire night. Those standing guard outside heard him cursing and grumbling in his drunkenness. One moment he cursed Diwu Lun for betraying his trust and attacking him by surprise. The next he cursed Geng Yan for killing his younger brother Zhang Lan and now wanting to exterminate them completely. But in the end, he began cursing Liu Xiu as well…

"Liu Wenshu wants me to hold Ju as a shield, to block the blades and arrows for him! No matter who wins between him and Diwu Lun, the shield is destined to be shattered."

The next day, after a whole night of agonized struggle, Zhang Bu summoned his third brother, Zhang Shou, and said to him: "My second brother, Zhang Lan, was betrayed by the Dongguo clan and perished at Linzi. He died in my place! His corpse must be retrieved for burial. The Wei army will arrive soon. You must leave Ju City at once, go pay your respects to General Geng, and ask him on my behalf for Zhang Lan's remains, so that he may be buried in our home county of Buqi in Langya Commandery."

Zhang Shou found this utterly baffling. Although the actual killer was the great Linzi merchant Dongguo Chang'an, Geng Yan was still an enemy of the Zhang brothers, and the two sides were at war. What sense did it make to send him to the enemy to beg for a dead man's remains? Furthermore, it had been nearly three months since the battle of Linzi. Even if Zhang Lan's body had been collected, it would have long since rotted. And finally, their hometown of Buqi County in Langya (present-day Qingdao) lay in the northern part of the commandery and had long ago been taken by the Wei army. It was already fortunate if the Zhang family ancestral tombs had not been dug up and the corpses mutilated — how could they possibly permit a burial there?

"Has the Royal Brother perhaps drunk too much?" Zhang Shou glanced at the mess of cups and dishes on the table before him — there weren't even many dishes.

"Fool! You still do not understand my meaning?"

At these words, Zhang Bu flew into a rage and hurled the wine flagon at Zhang Shou, cursing: "Since Liu Xiu is only willing to make empty promises and won't send a single soldier, then let him not blame me for seeking my own 'turn of fortune'!"

…

Meanwhile, Geng Yan's advance was far less smooth than he had anticipated.

The greatest obstacle was not Zhang Bu's crumbling remnant forces, but the terrain. The Wei army had already left the flat, boundless great plains of Qing Province. The eastern Shandong hills presented complex landforms and rugged mountain roads. A cavalry force could no longer sweep three hundred li in a single dash. Every county town along the route had to be taken and secured to guarantee the safety of the rear supply lines.

This made the progress of the war quite slow. Geng Yan had once boasted that he would reach Pengcheng before winter set in, yet by the start of the tenth month, his vanguard had only just neared Ju City. When Geng Yan peered through his telescope at this stout city, wedged between two hills and ringed by diverted water, he knew it absolutely could not be taken in less than ten days to half a month.

Turning to look back at his own camp, every soldier's face bore exhaustion. Since the fifth month, they had been campaigning without pause for four months. They had not yet brought enough winter clothing, and many units had stripped garments from the dead or looted them from the living, making the army's appearance rather ragged. As Zhang Bu's final stronghold, Ju City still held over ten thousand troops, while the Wei army that had reached this point numbered only a little over twenty thousand. To force an assault would inevitably be a grueling, costly battle.

Just as Geng Yan was pondering how to fight this battle, the Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, Fu Long, put forward a bold idea.

"You wish to enter the city and persuade Zhang Bu to surrender, sir?"

Hearing Fu Long's request to take on this mission, Geng Yan shook his head. "If Zhang Bu wanted to surrender, he would have done so long ago. Now that this wretch has fallen back to Ju City, with Donghai Commandery at his back, he is still counting on Liu Xiu to save him. What's more, no small number of his younger brothers and family members died at Linzi. How could he be willing to submit now?"

Fu Long had met Zhang Bu twice before and had some understanding of the man: "How can a younger brother's life compare to his own survival? Zhang Bu is a fickle man. Now that Wei is strong and Wu is weak, and having witnessed the General's might and the invincibility of your troops at Linzi, he long ago lost the will to resist. He merely fears humiliation and death after surrendering, hence his hesitation. At this moment, when he is caught in a dilemma, if we can lure him with an offer of 'honorable surrender' and promise him the rank of viscount or baron, we may be able to make Ju City surrender without a fight, saving the General time."

Geng Yan gazed toward Ju City. This place could not be bypassed. And the prisoners they had captured said that Zhang Bu had stockpiled quite a bit of grain inside the city. If they could take it intact, it would give him a logistics base.

As the two were discussing this, scouts came to report that they had captured someone leaving the city — a man claiming to be Zhang Bu's third brother, who had come to request the body of his second elder brother…

Geng Yan found this utterly absurd. A man who died three months ago, and you only come looking now? He had long since been buried in a mass grave along with countless other war dead, or burned, or eaten by scavengers. You would probably have to search the bellies of crows and wild dogs to find him.

Fu Long, however, was briefly taken aback before bursting into loud laughter. Clapping his hands, he said: "Congratulations, General! Zhang Bu truly has no will to fight. Ju City can be entered!"

…

Before Fu Long entered the city, Geng Yan still did not trust Zhang Bu and said to him:

"Are you not afraid, sir, that this is a stalling tactic by Zhang Bu?"

After all, he had seen plenty of fake surrenders.

Fu Long replied: "The General should continue to prepare the troops and build siege equipment. Zhang Bu's brother will be detained in the camp as a hostage in exchange for my entering the city to negotiate. If I determine it is a trick, the General may freely kill the man as a blood sacrifice to the banners and storm the city in one blow."

Geng Yan said in surprise: "And what of your own life and safety, sir? Do not end up following in Li Yiji's footsteps, boiled alive by Zhang Bu in Ju — that would be no concern of mine."

Fu Long said solemnly: "May the General advance his troops in due time and pay no heed to Fu Long. If I am truly so unfortunate as to perish at the hands of these bandits, then from the top of Ju City's walls, with my hands bound, I shall cry out 'Long live Great Wei! May His Majesty forever rule over ten thousand kingdoms, as boundless as Heaven itself!' Then I shall cast myself down, my body shattered to pieces. I ask the General and his soldiers to tread upon my flesh and blood as you enter Ju City!"

At this, Geng Yan felt a surge of admiration for this seemingly frail scholar who possessed such unyielding integrity: "You have the courage of a Zhang Qian or a Su Wu, sir."

Fu Long bowed to him with clasped hands: "In the era of Emperor Wu of Han, those whose brilliance shone down to later ages were not only generals like Wei and Huo."

With these words, Fu Long, accompanied by only two attendants, climbed into the basket lowered from the walls of Ju City and was hoisted up to the battlements.

Fu Long's family were also natives of Langya, so he was no stranger to Ju City. But the city walls today were vastly different from peacetime.

The ramparts were packed with the able-bodied men of Ju City, holding defensive weapons. In some places, great piles of stones were heaped, and bundle after bundle of arrows was being carried up.

Gazing into the distance, the most conspicuous sight within the city was the palace of the King of Chengyang, standing in the southwest corner.

In the time of Emperor Wen of Han, the Chengyang Kingdom was established, and Liu Zhang, Marquis of Zhuxu, was made King of Chengyang. Liu Zhang had rendered great service in the coup that exterminated the Lü clan, and his status among the feudal lords was preeminent. Though his life was short and his kingdom small, his influence was not. From Jing Wang Liu Zhang to the Ai King, the Chengyang Kingdom passed through nine reigns and ten kings. Now, among the descendants of the Chengyang kings, most of the older ones had been killed by the Red Eyebrow Army, and the younger ones taken away to be cowherds — which gave Zhang Bu the chance to play the usurper in the magpie's nest.

Walking through the streets of Ju City, Fu Long saw horse-drawn carts laden with hemp sacks rushing back and forth without pause. One of them, with great carelessness, "overturned," spilling grain all over the ground.

From the lanes and alleys came the clanging sounds of hammering, as if iron were being forged into weapons. Ju City was the salt and iron center of the Haidai region; an iron office had been established here during the Han, so there were bound to be many blacksmiths in the city.

As he approached the Chengyang King's palace, Zhang Bu's soldiers stood upon the steps of the dais — all tall, strapping men of Qi, clad in armor. Nearly every single man was armored.

Once he entered the hall, Fu Long saw Zhang Bu again after more than a year. Zhang Bu was dressed in full battle gear, deliberately putting on a brave and fearless front. In a tone neither servile nor overbearing, he said to Fu Long:

"What impression did you form, sir, upon entering Ju?"

He was asking for his thoughts. Fu Long bowed politely with clasped hands: "I am glad to inform the King of Qi: after entering the city, I looked all around, inside and out, and I felt only… the urge to laugh!"

These words were profoundly insulting. Zhang Bu flew into a towering rage and slammed the table: "Does the gentleman wish to test the sharp blades of Ju City's ten thousand warriors?"

Faced with this intimidation, Fu Long's heart was utterly unmoved. He smiled with his hands tucked into his sleeves and said: "The King of Qi deliberately let me see the battlements crowded with able-bodied men, to show that Ju City can be defended. But all I saw were faces full of fear. Many of those on the walls were being driven back and forth, up and down — this is mere bluff."

"The King of Qi also wished me to see the endless grain carts on the streets, to show that Ju City has enough food to hold out for months and years. But all I saw was that even the grain transporters had a famished look. I suspect the food in Ju City is not exactly plentiful."

"After that, the ceaseless clanging of iron forging in the lanes — the King of Qi wished me to think that Ju City has an abundance of fine steel weapons. Yet I heard only the sound and saw no smoke rising. Is that not strange?"

"And the tiger guard soldiers outside the Chengyang King's palace — though every man wore armor, much of it did not even fit properly. I fear the King of Qi simply scoured the armories and handed it to the fiercest, most imposing warriors to wear, just to make the gate look impressive!"

"Finally, I also saw quite a few men wearing the uniforms and banners of the Wu army. The King of Qi wished me to see that Liu Xiu has already sent men to help. But observing their features and builds, they do not look like southerners!"

By the time he finished this speech, Zhang Bu was drenched in cold sweat. As the sweat flowed, the rouge he had applied to hide his haggard face also began to fade. He had thought this scholar would be easy to fool, but Fu Long proved to have a pair of piercing eyes, puncturing Zhang Bu's bluff in one stroke — though, of course, that last point was a guess on his part.

Fu Long pressed his advantage, aiming straight at Zhang Bu's deepest insecurity: "Does the King of Qi truly believe that with scattered, demoralized troops and a city wall merely six zhang high, he can hold off the Wei army?"

"At Lixia and Linzi, General Geng swept through the twelve commanderies of Qi in under four months, seizing dozens of cities and breaching every one he struck — what can a mere Ju County do? Even if by luck you hold out a few months, once His Majesty the Wei Emperor crushes Pengcheng and sends troops north to strike you from both sides, with a hundred thousand soldiers at your walls, can the King of Qi truly escape? And who would you rely on to defend you then? Pray for the blessing of the Illustrious King of Chengyang?"

Every street and lane in Ju County held a shrine to the "Illustrious King of Chengyang." Liu Zhang had become the local people's tutelary deity. Decades ago, a great earthquake had struck the Haidai region, leveling many cities and ramparts, yet Ju County alone survived. The locals believed this was the Illustrious King of Chengyang's protection, and their faith deepened ever since. Zhang Bu was among the devotees.

"But the Illustrious King of Chengyang could not even protect his own descendants — and the King of Qi does not bear the surname Liu!"

Having shattered Zhang Bu's last hope, Fu Long then offered him a new one:

"The King of Qi sent his younger brother out of the city to pay respects to General Geng — I understand the intent."

These words left Zhang Bu unable to maintain his bravado any longer. He hastily rose from his seat, his face ashen, and earnestly sought Fu Long's help: "Since the battle of Linzi, Zhang Bu has known that the Great Wei's heavenly troops cannot be resisted. But I have defied the Wei Emperor and General Geng many times — is there truly still a path to survival now? All Zhang Bu seeks now is to retire to Langya."

"Of course there is!"

Fu Long laid out the analysis for Zhang Bu: "His Majesty has always let bygones be bygones for those who sincerely surrender. My father, Fu Huigong, once defended Henei. When the Xin Dynasty crumbled and Ma Wenyuan attacked, though he neither fought nor surrendered, His Majesty still entrusted me with important duties. Li Zhong of Donglai was once Chancellor of the false Han under Liu Ziyu; after he was compelled to surrender, His Majesty first granted him the rank of Grand Master, and now he has been restored as Inspector of Qing Province, returning to his homeland as a high frontier official."

"In terms of stubborn resistance, the King of Qi does not surpass Qin Feng, the King of Chuli. Qin Feng merely surrendered and yet was able to keep his life, granted farmland to live as a commoner. If the King of Qi reins in his horse at the last moment and turns to Wei, let alone a viscount or baron title — even enfeoffment as a full Marquis, with wealth and rank to the end of his days, is entirely possible!"

Having given the positive examples, Fu Long said coldly: "But if the King of Qi insists on following the path of Wei Ao of Longyou... and resists to the bitter end — does the Wei clan still have a foothold in Tianshui Commandery today? If the King of Qi does not plan ahead for himself, regret will come too late!"

"Zhang Bu is willing to surrender."

Zhang Bu's psychological defenses had finally collapsed. This was his last turning point. Diwu Lun's great enemy was Liu Xiu, not him! Surrendering Ju County and allowing the Wei army to advance south ahead of schedule would count as a small merit. If the Wei Emperor was pleased afterward, he might even end up with a hollow marquis title — far better than dying in battle or fleeing into exile.

Having agreed to surrender to Diwu Lun, Zhang Bu suddenly became very proactive. He "voluntarily" informed Fu Long that that troublemaker Fang Wang had come to Qilu again, and had even gone to Qufu to persuade the Red Eyebrow Army to strike General Geng's rear...

"That Fang Wang."

Fu Long was inwardly on alert, but was this not also Zhang Bu's final test? He therefore replied with easy confidence: "It is no matter. His Majesty has long had plans in place for the Red Eyebrow remnants."

"Qufu may well be Fang Wang's burial ground!"