Chapter 604: Sailing a Vessel on Dry Land

Just as Lai Xi had foreseen, under the Wei army's propaganda offensive, the hearts of Pengcheng's people grew more divided by the day, until finally a night panic broke out among some of the troops in camp.

The camp panic escalated into mutiny and quickly spread throughout the city. Wei State agents who had been lying low for days seized the chance to fan the flames, goading the death-fearing populace to grasp the opportunity and open the city gates to welcome the royal army inside.

Seeing that the outer wall was beyond saving, Lai Xi followed the plan and withdrew with his three thousand troops to defend the inner city at the northeast corner of Pengcheng.

That very night of turmoil, the Wei army launched a surprise assault, scaling and seizing control of the walls on all four sides. In the middle of the twelfth month of the third year of Wude, as the bricks, stones, and timbers blocking the city gates were hauled away, Pengcheng, besieged for over twenty days, finally and slowly swung open its great doors to the victors.

The colonels who had taken part in the mutiny, and the Pengcheng elders who had worked through the night embroidering five-colored banners, all stood with anxious hearts along the wind-bitten main avenue before the gate. Though the Wei army had promised no wanton slaughter, the blade was in another's hand, and they were now fish on the chopping block — their lives or deaths hung on a single whim of the other side.

To the sound of orderly marching, a Wei army unit was the first to enter, every man tall and mounted on a large horse, their armor and weapons gleaming, the five-colored banners dazzling the eye. Behind them came the creak of chariot wheels — the Wei commander-in-chief had arrived in person. The elder representatives who had been sent by the city folk to deliver the surrender letter to the Wei camp were now riding in the same chariot with him, both stirred and somewhat ill at ease.

This Wei army commander was, of course, Geng Chun, the Left Chancellor whom Diwu Lun had appointed as overall front-line commander for Pengcheng. Because of an old shoulder wound, he listed slightly even when merely standing in the chariot. As a Wei imperial in-law, Geng Chun was no renowned general, but he had at least commanded tens of thousands in battle and had delivered above-average performances in the Hebei and He-Ji campaigns; his rank was also sufficient to direct the Wei state's several proud and fierce generals.

Most importantly, Geng Chun had immense patience and heeded the Emperor's words very well — he was unlikely to stir up any major news while Diwu Lun was away.

Geng Chun hailed from a powerful clan in Hebei and had also served as an official in the Xin Dynasty, so he was quite adept at the ways of the world. Entering the city now on a mission of pacification, he saw the Pengcheng elders ill at ease and the common folk hiding at home with their doors firmly shut, unwilling to come out, and an idea at once formed in his mind.

His gaze fell upon the steles lining both sides of Pengcheng's main thoroughfare. This was a local custom of the Chu region: for those officials of the two-thousand-bushel rank who had made outstanding contributions locally, or for people of Pengcheng renowned throughout the realm, steles were erected after their deaths to commemorate them, in order to honor the worthy and edify the common people.

Looking down the row, there was the stele of the "Three Scholars" of the early Han who had brought great triumph to Pengcheng Confucianism; the stele of Wei Meng, a famous poet of Pengcheng from the Wen-Jing era; and the stele of Princess Jieyou, who as a Chu princess had been married far off to the Wusun kingdom during the time of Emperor Wu of Han...

Geng Chun's chariot wheels halted before a neighborhood gate battered by war, his eyes settling on the striking stone gate. Ordinary neighborhood gates were all of wood; this one alone was of stone, built in the shape of a small watchtower, beneath which stood a stone tablet densely carved with small characters.

Chancellor Geng put on an expression of sudden realization and said to the Pengcheng elders accompanying him: "Could this be the Lian Neighborhood where Lord Gong, one of the 'Two Gongs of Chu' — the former Governor of Bohai and Grandee of the Glorious Palace under the Former Han — once dwelt?"

The Pengcheng elders hurriedly replied: "It is indeed where Gong Junbin lived. The local people, mindful of his..."

At this they suddenly stopped, because this Gong Sheng was revered for his "loyalty to the Han and his integrity" — how could they say that? So they changed their words: "Mindful of his uprightness, we specially carved this stone to mark his neighborhood gate."

The career of this Gong Sheng of Chu was the classic path of a grand Confucian and remonstrating minister. Studious in youth and well-versed in the Five Classics, he had entered service via the "Flourishing Talent" recommendation. Relying on his mastery of Confucian arts, he rose step by step and was appointed Grandee Remonstrant. Even in the darkest days of Emperor Ai of Han, he repeatedly submitted memorials attacking harsh punishments and heavy taxes. Though honest advice grates on the ear, Gong Sheng not only escaped punishment but rose ever higher in office. Yet when Wang Mang took control of the government, he perceived that this Grand Marshal and Grand General was acting amiss and so retired to his native village.

After Wang Mang usurped the Han, he did not forget this venerable old Confucian. He sent the Five Might Generals to Xu Province, bearing sheep and wine to pay his respects to Gong Sheng, wishing to invite him to the Imperial Academy to serve as Grand Libationer. But Gong Sheng refused again and again, unwilling even to step outside to meet the envoys. He sat on his bed feigning illness, and when he could prevaricate no longer, he began a hunger strike. After fourteen days without a single grain of rice, he starved to death upon his couch.

On the verge of death he left these final words: "I have received the Han house's profound grace and have no way to repay it. Now old in years, I shall soon enter the earth. How could I, in righteousness, serve two surnames with one body, and face my former lord in the netherworld?"

This was a quintessential great loyal minister of the Han. Though the local people lacked his unbending backbone, they nonetheless admired him greatly, and after Liu Xiu took control of Pengcheng, he had honored him with even greater accolades.

Now that Pengcheng had changed masters, could it be that Chancellor Geng of Wei had taken a dislike to this stone neighborhood gate and wished to send troops to smash it? If that were truly the case, should they step forward to stop it, or, to preserve themselves, stand by and watch?

Just as the Pengcheng elders were at a loss, Geng Chun sighed with emotion and said: "In my youth I studied the Five Classics and was most fond of the Lu Odes, taking them as my vocation and entering the Imperial Academy. I have long heard that Lord Gong was the great synthesizer of the Lu Odes. When he returned to his native village, every newly arrived commandery official of the two-thousand-bushel rank would visit his home, observing the rites of a master and disciple. Now that a later student of the Lu Odes has arrived here, how can he sit haughtily in his chariot?"

With these words, he descended from the chariot with solemn dignity, walked before the stone tablet at the gate tower, and bowed slightly with clasped hands.

Then, before the eyes of all, Geng Chun gave an order: "Pass the word down: any soldier or horse that dares defile this gate tower or stone tablet shall be severely punished without pardon!"

This act greatly astonished the Pengcheng elders, and then a secret delight stole into their hearts: if Geng Chun could show such reverence and courtesy to Gong Sheng — a diehard Han loyalist who had starved himself to death rather than eat the new dynasty's grain — then they, who had indeed served as officials under Liu Xiu, could surely, by the terms agreed upon, have their past deeds overlooked now that they had surrendered?

As if reading their thoughts, Geng Chun, standing before Gong Sheng's stone tablet, renewed his pledge to them: "When the royal army earlier smashed the Haidai region of Qi, some incidents of burning, killing, and looting occurred. Word of this reached Pengcheng, and everyone feared for their lives. I know you gentlemen have many misgivings."

Indeed — this was precisely the main reason Pengcheng had not simply knelt the moment the army reached its walls, and had instead managed to resist for over twenty days.

Geng Chun, however, was highly skilled in the rhetoric of shifting blame. With an expression of pained indignation, he said: "His Majesty, our court's Emperor, clearly issued repeated orders that the troops must not harm the common people. Yet the main force that attacked Qi was composed of You Province troops — the borderland shock cavalry of Shanggu and Yuyang, a mix of Hua and barbarian, fierce and hard to control. Hence this foul reputation."

Though in fact their Ji Province troops had made up the majority, Geng Chun simply ignored that: "Now the You Province troops are all in the south, and those entering the city are mostly soldiers from the Central Plains, with far stricter military discipline. You gentlemen may set your minds at ease — absolutely no massacres or wanton killings will occur."

In any case, young Geng and the You Province troops already had a very bad name; he didn't mind it getting a little worse. Using them to sweep away the hard-to-handle elements in newly conquered territory, then sending in troops with good discipline and having officials take over to carry out recovery and construction on the swept-clean land — this was already a well-worn routine of Diwu Lun's.

For a time, even as the Pengcheng elders inwardly cursed the You Province troops as savages and brutes, their impression of Geng Chun was exceedingly favorable, and they feared his time in charge of Pengcheng would be too short.

A saying also began to circulate in Pengcheng: "Of the Two Gongs of Chu, Gong Sheng is the superior."

"Of the Two Gengs who founded Wei, the elder Geng far surpasses the younger!"

Pacifying the tens of thousands of commoners and several thousand surrendered troops of Pengcheng with a small stratagem was no difficult matter for Geng Chun. His greater skill, after all, lay not in storming cities and seizing territory, but in handling the tangled relationships of the postwar period — something he had honed through his adept maneuvering in Hebei.

But further ahead along the main thoroughfare, Geng Chun's "softness" could no longer serve.

The grand, sturdy, and sheer inner city of Pengcheng loomed before his eyes, and the flaming Han banner still fluttered above it.

"Lai Junshu is indeed a diehard loyalist of Liu Xiu — even now, he still stubbornly resists from his corner." Zhang Zong, the General Who Conquers the East in charge of the assault, spoke thus, and began discussing with Geng Chun the plan to root out the inner city.

The ancient old city of Pengcheng had been destroyed during the Chu-Han Contention, so much so that when Han Xin first took up his fief in Chu, he had to move the capital to the tiny town of Xiapi. Only later, when King Yuan of Chu took up the fief, was it rebuilt upon the ruins.

"In addition to repairing the outer wall, they also added an inner city in the northeast corner."

Unlike the rammed-earth outer wall, this inner city was built of piled stone, over four zhang high — grand, sturdy, and sheer, with watchtowers gleaming. Because it also contained the golden roof of the Chu King's Palace, it was also called Jincheng — the Golden City.

Even more preposterously, Lai Xi seemed to have anticipated early on that the outer wall could not be held, and had prepared from the start for a withdrawal. He had sent men to demolish the houses and neighborhoods that had clung to the inner wall like clusters of parasitic barnacles during a century of peace, creating sufficient open ground between the inner and outer walls, and had ringed it with trenches, channeling water in — now a frozen, deep moat.

Geng Chun's pacification of the people was proving quite effective: someone who had served in the Chu palace immediately came forward and presented a detailed map of the inner city.

"The inner city is essentially the Chu King's Palace. Behind the stone walls lies the front hall, and behind that the inner hall, the central palace, the Lingping Palace, the Long Alleys, and so on. In addition, the grand granary, the armory, and the ancestral temple are all within — it is, one might say, a complete entity in miniature. Lai Junshu has stored the entire city's grain in the inner city granary, so that the tens of thousands in Pengcheng have virtually no grain to eat."

Zhang Zong perceived the enemy's venomous scheme: "Lai Xi is abandoning tens of thousands to us, deliberately forcing the Wei army to increase its grain consumption."

Their own fodder and provisions were brought over by Dou Rong from Lingbi, but the ultimate source was the Liang region's Suiyang and Luoyang on the upper reaches of the Sui River. Though the Xu-Si waterways had not yet frozen, several commanderies further north were nearly iced over, making grain transport quite difficult. The Wei army's stored grain could only last until the next month.

Geng Chun also did a mental calculation: "If we share it with the people of Pengcheng, it will be exhausted by month's end."

But if they did not share it, who knew what the tens of thousands of starving Pengcheng people might do?

Zhang Zong proposed an idea: "Could we perhaps use the pretext of military operations to drive them away?"

Geng Chun remained silent. So-called "driving them away" was in truth abandonment — sending tens of thousands of people out of their homes in the bitter cold of the twelfth month, to live or die on their own in the wilderness!

Yet this was indeed the choice that best served the Wei army's interests. In the end, Geng Chun kicked the ball to Diwu Lun.

"A matter of such magnitude must be reported for His Majesty's knowledge."

Diwu Lun was at present still in Xiapi, observing Liu Xiu's movements at close range. The post riders flew swiftly, and in just a single day, the Emperor's edict was brought back.

Geng Chun and Zhang Zong took the decree and looked it over. On it was written: "Xunzi said: 'Water can bear the boat, water can overturn it.' Lai Xi knows only to protect the altars of the Han's single surname, heedless of the lives of Pengcheng's common people. This is like a boat parted from the water — sailing a vessel on dry land. The Spring and Autumn Annals attest that those who abandon the people shall surely perish. Though the inner city's walls be a thousand chi high, its heaven-ordained doom is at hand!"

After reading it, Geng Chun let out a breath of relief. He truly did not wish for excessive slaughter and sacrifice.

Zhang Zong felt a slight regret. Unlike the assault on the outer wall, where they could hurl stones and shoot arrows without restraint, the inner city lay within the outer wall, so the Wei army was hampered in its operations. Now, with the added burden of tens of thousands, taking it would be even more difficult. That fellow Lai Junshu had taken advantage of the sudden temperature drop to have men pour water over the stone walls, sheathing them in a layer of ice — either too slippery to set scaling ladders against, or producing sharp ice ridges that drew blood the moment one reached out.

Fortunately, Diwu Lun did not expect the horse to run while refusing to let it graze; he also gave the two men some micromanagement advice:

"Let the Left Chancellor send men to spread word that the Han army has hoarded grain in the inner city with no regard for life or death, so as to stoke resentment against them."

"Then have all the able-bodied men of Pengcheng come forth, using labor in lieu of relief, to assist us in taking the inner city, with a promise that grain rations will be distributed once the city falls."

This plan made even Geng Chun smile. Back in the day, he had served as a grain official in the Xin Dynasty for a very long time — this was his old trade.

Of course, Diwu Lun, mindful of the usual conduct of Wei army officers, had also specially emphasized: "They are only permitted to transport baggage and equipment. They must not be deliberately driven forward as a front rank to fill the moats!"

Geng Chun immediately sang high praises: "Your Majesty is benevolent and virtuous. Once word of the Pengcheng affair spreads, the people of Xu and Huai will surely flock to you like flowing water."

Zhang Zong, who really did harbor some thoughts of driving the people to their deaths, could only say:

"Indeed, Your Majesty's insight is lofty!"

But regarding the division of tasks Diwu Lun had assigned to the two of them, Zhang Zong truly approved:

"The Left Chancellor is skilled in gentleness; he can transform the disloyal hearts of the Pengcheng people and make these tens of thousands of commoners serve our purposes."

"While the General Who Conquers the East is resolute and unstoppable."

"I hope you two ministers will combine firmness and gentleness, to pierce through this stone wall, to melt this solid ice!"