Chapter 598: Fallen Red

Liu Kuang enjoyed considerable local prestige in Pengcheng. With him blocking the way, the Liu officers looked at one another, at a loss for what to do.

It was Liu Zhi who finally came to his senses. Gazing at the mutinous men under his command — he had shared food and clothing with his soldiers, treating every man as a blood brother, and now they had betrayed him in the most shameful way — he felt wave after wave of heartache and said, deeply disappointed:

"Gentlemen, you are all clansmen of the Liu surname, many of you descendants of Prince Yuan of Chu and Prince Wen of Chu. As the progeny of worthy princes, have you today forgotten the two hundred years of Han grace and favor?"

Many lowered their heads in shame, but the Platoon Commander who had led the mutiny, having nothing left to lose, cursed: "The House of Han was already destroyed once by Wang Mang over ten years ago. We were furious at first, but what came of it? Even without being imperial clansmen, everyone's lives were not so bad. If not for those Red Eyebrow rebel scum, my family would still have dozens of qing of land!"

Liu Zhi rebuked him: "It was precisely His Majesty who personally led the stalwart youths of Jiangdong, drove out the Red Eyebrows, restored your lands, and saved you all from becoming wandering captives. The Emperor has shown the Liu clan of Pengcheng the grace of a second birth — now you rebel, how can your consciences bear it?"

The men replied: "There was grace, yes. But we fought a bloody battle against a hundred-thousand-strong army for five days, one against a hundred. We have done all we could. Every man has lost a brother or a fellow villager in battle. Reckoned by household, each family has already lost one man. Governor Liu, surely the rest of us may be allowed to live?"

"When the ducal house is about to fall, its clan branches and leaves wither first. If the Great Han is in peril, it is for men of the Liu surname to die first!"

Liu Zhi could not comprehend their cowardice. Striking his chest, he said: "I, a Liu of Hebei, can still fight to the death — yet you refuse to defend your native soil? Do you not know that Diwu Lun means not only to destroy the Han, but to exterminate the Liu surname entirely! Today, to surrender is death, and to fight with all your strength is also death. Why not draw your blades and fight to the very last moment? That way, when you go down to the Yellow Springs, you will still have the face to meet your ancestors."

Five days ago, Liu Zhi had used similar words to rouse the men's will to fight bitterly, which was how they had held out for so many days. Who could have expected that now it no longer worked, and they even turned and cursed Liu Zhi: "Governor Liu does not speak a single true word — we nearly fell for your vicious deception. Just now, someone of the Liu surname on the Wei army's side shouted from the hillside that most of the Hebei Lius have been spared, and some have even been given office. The Wei Emperor has said that if we surrender, our lives will be spared."

Better to live in disgrace than die a noble death — it was precisely this propaganda offensive that became the final straw that broke the defenders. They turned back and found that half their comrades had already vanished without a trace, and nearly every man left was wounded. Enough. Their duty as men of the Liu clan was fulfilled; it was time to think of themselves and their families.

The ringleader spoke even more bluntly: "Liu Zhi, it is merely a change of dynasty! When Xiang Yu fell, Xiang Bo survived and became a Marquis of the Great Han! Now that the Han is being destroyed, it is a pity, to be sure — but why must we die together with it? Had the Grand Marshal not forcibly conscripted the Liu sons of this city, who would have willingly come to Ximatai? The one who wishes to see the Pengcheng Liu clan utterly wiped out is not Diwu Lun — it is you, Governor Liu!"

"Governor Liu wishes to die."

"But we wish to live!"

As they spoke these words, their steps slowly advanced forward. Everyone knew Liu Zhi's temperament: only by eliminating him could they make the common soldiers who revered and trusted Liu Zhi give up all hope.

But Liu Kuang, though wounded, still stood like a loyal guard protecting his lord — even though he had only served as Liu Zhi's temporary deputy for a few short days.

"If you wish to harm Governor Liu, you shall have to step over my corpse!"

At that very moment, the sky was about to brighten fully, and behind the men rose a roll of thunderous drumbeats — the prelude to the Wei army's assault! This time, Ximatai would certainly not hold.

"The Wei army is coming up again!"

The men grew frantic. They did not wish to take Liu Kuang's life; they only wanted to do away with Liu Zhi, that outsider superior. In their desperation, someone shouted: "Young Master Liu — Liu Kuang — if it truly cannot be helped, let us first seize Governor Liu alive and bind him. You wish to protect his life, but can you bear to watch us all die?"

Their plea was pitiful. Liu Kuang was at a loss how to respond when he saw the men's faces shift from murderous ferocity and pitiful pleading to astonishment and shock, their eyes fixed behind him — they even cried out.

Liu Kuang turned his head and saw that Liu Zhi had already retreated step by step to the very summit of Ximatai, where a blazing Han banner was planted. Though torn by Wei army arrows, it still fluttered in the morning breeze.

The gaze Liu Zhi cast upon the men on Ximatai was filled with complex meaning.

These were his clansmen of the same surname. He had intended to lead them all to die together, to create a tale like that of Tian Heng's five hundred martyrs, so that centuries later, men would still strike the rhythm and praise their resolve to restore the Han.

But he had thought the matter too simple. Not every man holds dynasty and clan dearer than his own life.

Liu Zhi bowed to the men with clasped hands: "So be it. Since it is Liu Zhi who blocks your path to survival, then let me use my death to loosen the shackles that bind you all."

"But the duty of defending this terrace is easily cast off; the blood of the Liu surname is not so easily shed. I only hope that when you are laid upon the butcher's block, reduced to fish and meat, and deported to distant lands, you will not regret this."

With these words, he embraced the Han banner as though shielding the last of his own dignity, and began retreating toward the edge of Ximatai's highest point. That side was a sheer cliff, dozens of zhang high — the Wei army could not come up, and the Han army could not go down.

Liu Zhi's speech left the men both ashamed and relieved. On one hand, they felt they had failed Liu Xiu, their Governor, and their own surname; on the other, they were glad they would not have to do the deed themselves.

Only Liu Kuang knelt and pressed his forehead to the ground in entreaty: "Governor, if you are determined to go to your death, please take Liu Kuang with you. On the road to the Yellow Springs, I could hold your stirrup for you."

With these words, he staggered after him, actually intending to face death together with Liu Zhi. The blood from the wound on his back fell in a trail along the way.

Liu Zhi stopped him: "Young Master, you are a hero of Pengcheng, your good faith a match for Ji Bu's. You honor your promises — please, grant me one request."

"Governor, please speak."

Liu Zhi smiled: "Five bitter days of battle at Ximatai — we have indeed done all we could. The hundred years of Han grace, the sovereign's kindness in delivering us from hanging upside down — let Liu Zhi alone repay it in full! I once mistakenly believed in the false Liu Ziyu, but to fall at Pengcheng is to die for the true cause of restoring the Han."

"Live on."

Liu Zhi looked at Liu Kuang and bowed deeply to him: "Among the surviving men of the Liu surname, there must be an elder of loyalty, honesty, and good faith to record all that happened, and to tell the later generations that when the Great Han faced life and death, there was a Liu Zhi of Hebei. Though a man of no great ability, he willingly gave his life, seeking to aid the true Son of Heaven and restore the celestial order!"

Liu Kuang pressed his head to the ground again and again, tears and mucus streaming down his face. Liu Zhi had said all he had to say. He turned around and saw below Ximatai the surging flood tide of the Wei army, wave upon wave, rushing ceaselessly toward Ximatai. This tiny reef in the chaos of the age was about to be swallowed by the great wave.

But he, at least, had bought Pengcheng, and Liu Xiu, five or six days of time!

"May His Majesty Jianwu soon restore the House of Han and return to the old capital!"

Gazing toward Jiangdu in the southeast, having spoken these words, Liu Zhi clutched the Han banner to his chest and leaped from the summit of Ximatai.

He swiftly vanished from the eyes of those Liu clansmen who had betrayed their surname and turned their blades against their own kin, then reappeared above the heads of the tens of thousands of Wei soldiers storming up Ximatai — and plunged down.

Amid the war drums and battle cries, that falling figure looked exactly like the Jingwei bird facing the raging tide, carrying stones in its beak to fill the sea!

And this scene also fell into the eyes of the Wei Emperor, who was observing the situation through a telescope atop a watchtower.

Diwu Lun saw what seemed to be a streak of dull, somber crimson plummeting swiftly from on high, smashing at last into a heap of jagged rocks, shattering into a pool of red mud...

Liu Zhi's body was brought over together with that tattered, filthy Han banner, so that one could no longer tell where the red cloth ended and the blood began.

It was from the mouths of captives that Diwu Lun learned that this "Governor of Donghai" under Liu Xiu, this tough man who had defended the death trap of Ximatai for five full days, was actually a leftover official of the Northern Han pretender Liu Ziyu...

Only then did Diwu Lun take note of this man. He nodded and sighed with emotion: "In Jing-Xiang there was Ma Wu; in Pengcheng there is Liu Zhi. Ah Xiu, ah Xiu, you always manage to win the hearts of men of resolve like this — worthy of you indeed."

But the men who had surrendered on Ximatai were not nearly so heroic. The Platoon Commander who had led them still wanted to claim credit for himself. When the Embroidered Uniform Commandant Zhang Yu asked him why he had surrendered, he babbled a stream of nonsense:

"During the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, and again in the time of Emperor Xiaoxuan, the Kingdom of Chu twice rebelled against the Han — a third time makes little difference."

He also said: "This realm has seen so many Han emperors come and go — true Lius, false Lius, Gengshi, the Prince of Liang — we need not be loyal to Liu Xiu alone."

Among the crowd, only Liu Kuang, who had suffered seven wounds on his back and had nearly followed his superior to death, persisted in pleading, saying he wished to collect "Governor Liu's" body for burial.

Little did he know that Diwu Lun had already made arrangements: "Find a suitable plot in Pengcheng and give Liu Zhi a proper burial."

"No mound shall be raised, no trees planted — but this banner, I grant permission to be buried with him."

Diwu Lun added, with profound meaning, to his assembled ministers: "After all, this banner is soon to perish from the world of men. It can only be taken down to the Yellow Springs by Liu Xiu's loyal ministers to flutter there."

And when Zhang Yu asked how to deal with Liu Kuang, Diwu Lun said: "Have the army physicians treat his wounds well."

Was this a scheme to let Liu Kuang "die of an infected wound"? Unexpectedly, Diwu Lun continued: "This man's reputation in Pengcheng is exceedingly good. After this affair, it will likely grow even greater. See that he is well protected. Once his wounds heal, if he is willing to become an official of Wei, that would be best. If not, let him come and go freely."

What of it that he is a Liu? Has Liu Penzi not done excellently in Qufu, in Lu? Diwu Lun's deliberate suppression of the powerful Liu clans in Hebei was merely a political tactic to divert attention and reduce the power of local magnates. In the Central Plains, already plowed through by the Red Eyebrow Army, there was no great need for it.

And those Liu soldiers of Ximatai who had surrendered would also receive fairly good treatment. Diwu Lun said: "Suppose the King of Wu truly wished to make all the Lius martyrs for the fallen state — yet I can allow them to cling to life and survive. Toward whom will the Lius turn?"

In dividing the Liu surname, Wang Mang had done a rather fine job — on this point, Diwu Lun had much to learn.

"What is more, we must let the Wu troops in Pengcheng who are still stubbornly resisting see clearly: I can pardon all the Lius and not put them to death — how much more so for everyone else?"

There was no helping it. When his General of Chariots and Cavalry attacked Qi, army discipline was poor; many fled to Xu and Huai, which blackened the Wei army's reputation. There was even a rumor that "Geng Yan massacred forty cities." These negative effects had to be erased, to break the common people of Pengcheng's will to resist: The Liu imperial clan has already surrendered — do you still mean to die for another family's estate?

Speaking of Geng Yan, on the very night after the battle at Ximatai ended, Diwu Lun also received the latest report back from Xiapi.

"The imperial carriage will soon arrive; a subject ought to slaughter oxen and strain wine to await the county officials. How can he instead wish to present rebel captives to his sovereign and father?"

Reading Geng Yan's grandiose, fervently worded letter demanding battle, Diwu Lun laughed. "Excellent. General Geng has the grand ambition to sweep away Liu Xiu for me."

But the problem was that the Wei vanguard had already pushed too deep into the south. The Huai-Si region was Liu Xiu's home turf. Even with the Embroidered Uniform Guard's agents providing intelligence, Geng Yan's grasp of local conditions and terrain there was far inferior to his familiarity with the Haidai region of Qi. The crushing defeat at Xiaxiang was still right before their eyes.

It was precisely because he learned of that defeat in the south that Diwu Lun decided to take Ximatai immediately.

Although the Wei vanguard was not at an absolute numerical disadvantage and had Xiapi to rely on, Diwu Lun still worried: with the exhaustion of the army that had attacked Qi, and with Geng Yan's state of mind, if they truly rushed into a decisive battle, could they match Liu Xiu? On the tactical level, Diwu Lun absolutely dared not underestimate that Xiuer. This was a man who could often work miracles.

Everyone in the tent watched His Majesty the Emperor nervously. Avoiding battle was Diwu Lun's edict — was Geng Yan openly defying an imperial edict? Though it is said that when a general is in the field, there are orders from the sovereign he does not accept, and the decision to fight or not should be the commander's own — but the Emperor was only two days' journey by express courier post.

Some broke into a cold sweat on Geng Yan's behalf; others were happy to see him come to grief. That young general's edge had been far too sharp during the Qi campaign.

Did he truly think His Majesty the Emperor had no temper?

Unexpectedly, Diwu Lun sighed and said, "Liu Xiu's great army is closing on Xiapi, and General Geng cannot avoid it. It seems this battle cannot be bypassed."

"Send an edict: I permit battle! However, within five days, General of Chariots and Cavalry Geng must maneuver against Liu Xiu, to await the main army's arrival!"

Everyone was taken aback. Was Diwu Lun going to cover for Geng Yan the way he had for Cen Peng last time? But once such a precedent was set, could Wei's arrogant, fierce generals still be kept in hand?

But Diwu Lun had not finished speaking. He actually designated Left Chancellor Geng Chun, who had just escorted grain and fodder from Ji Province and arrived at Pengcheng, and also ordered General Who Conquers the East, Zhang Zong, to step forward. He commanded: "That being the case, the matter of besieging Pengcheng is entrusted to the Left Chancellor and the General."

Everyone was startled — what did the Emperor mean by this?

Diwu Lun actually laughed. "Since ancient times, king against king, general against general. Liu Xiu is at Xiapi — how can I avoid him by staying at Pengcheng? Ximatai has fallen; Pengcheng has no major affairs. Gentlemen, simply pin down Lai Junshu."

Geng Chun and Zhang Zong were obedient. Diwu Lun could leave the rear to them without worrying about trouble. The disobedient one was that young fellow in the south. He also knew that although Geng Yan's thinking had gone awry, he was not insubordinate or unruly — he simply could not swallow his anger after suffering losses at Xiaxiang, and wanted to redeem his face through one battle, then return in perfect triumph.

But Diwu Lun could not let him follow his own temper. If things went wrong at Xiapi, the entire favorable war situation might be thrown away!

Diwu Lun stopped everyone's earnest dissuasions. "When I learned of the Xiaxiang defeat, I already dispatched forty thousand men to move south in succession along the Si River. From Pengcheng to Xiapi, a courier rider can make it in a day, but a large army must march five days. I resolve to lead the campaign in person!"

As it happened, young Geng had also received an edict requiring him to tie down Liu Xiu for five days.

Five days later, Diwu Lun would also arrive at Xiapi, to give young Geng and Liu Xiu a grand surprise!