Chapter 642: Three Kingdoms

In the tenth month, Yongcheng in Guanzhong was alive with celebration. First came word that Wu Han had ridden to reinforce Wuwei and lifted the siege of Guzang, and then victory reports from Ma Yuan in Jincheng arrived in quick succession.

Diwu Lun made public Ma Yuan's memorial, still carrying the lingering cold of iron cavalry and icy rivers:

"At the battle of Poqiang County, I learned the enemy had fled west. I then led light troops on a forced march, covering over two hundred li in a single day and night, reached Luodu Valley, caught the brigands at dawn, and struck and shattered them."

"The remnant brigands fled toward Xiaoyun Valley and regrouped there. I therefore detached an Assistant General with five thousand men to emerge to their east, and the Commandant of Jincheng with two thousand men to circle to their west. The County Magistrate King led a host of several tens of thousands into battle, but before long they broke and fled. I advanced swiftly, joining with the Shaodang Qiang and others to pursue the County Magistrate, fighting and drawing them on until we reached Dayun Valley. It is the County Magistrate lair, with high mountains and deep waters. I then donned armor and was first to ascend; not a single officer or soldier dared lag behind. The Qiang were utterly routed, abandoning their weapons and fleeing. We pursued them for three days and three nights; the soldiers' feet were all thick with calluses. We slew the County Magistrate King's son. The remaining enemy, three thousand settlements, all scattered into the Xian River west of the lake. The Western Qiang are largely pacified!"

"The soldiers' feet were all thick with calluses." After reading it, Diwu Lun sighed with emotion and said, "In this campaign, the Grand General of Agile Cavalry and his officers and men have all toiled bitterly."

"Generals Ma and Wu are brave and keen, but much also depends on Your Majesty's skill in commanding generals!"

When the assembled ministers heard this, their praise was unceasing. This was not only a victory in a single campaign; it also proved that Diwu Lun's decision to change commanders had been correct. The year before last, the Emperor had Ma Yuan replace Wu Han, while Wu Han was transferred to Bingzhou — and now both had yielded results.

And Feng Yan, the Director of Guests, also timely delivered a third piece of good news: "Your Majesty, earlier, undercover agents and envoys infiltrated Shu territory via the old road at Chencang and made contact with the White Horse Di of Wudu. The White Horse Di, long subjected to enslavement and extortion by Wei Ao's old subordinates, have reached the limit of their endurance. Their chieftain, Qi Zhongliu, having accepted the seal and cord of the State of Wei, has raised troops. The various Di of Wudu have responded one after another. Wudu Commandery is now in great chaos, and all water and land routes from Shu to Wudu have been cut off. Wei Ao is trapped on the Wudu road and cannot withdraw south."

He earnestly requested Diwu Lun's next instructions. His Majesty the Wei Emperor was in good spirits today. After granting old Feng a cup of wine, he laughed and said, "When striking a snake, either do not strike at all, or strike it dead."

"Swiftly dispatch a small force to enter Wudu via the old road. Send the White Horse Di gold and silver, banners, seals and cords, and blades."

"Gongsun Shu wanted the Western Qiang to become a wound on the body of Wei, did he? Then I shall make the White Horse Di of Wudu into an incurable hemorrhoid for the White Emperor!"

Diwu Lun's choice of words was inelegant. How could Wudu be the back door of the Cheng family regime in Shu? If Hanzhong is the lips and tongue of Ba-Shu, then Wudu Commandery is its nose. The White Horse Di kicking up a storm in Wudu Commandery amounts at most to the White Emperor Gongsun Shu suffering a bout of rhinitis.

But do not underestimate the nose just because it is usually inconspicuous. If it truly becomes blocked, one can only gasp for breath through the mouth. Worst of all is the unbearable itching and aching, making Gongsun Shu constantly want to scratch, yet unable to stop the irritation. He could only rage in frustration within his Chengdu palace. After cursing the White Horse Di — "Those not of our kin are sure to have different hearts" — and still not venting his hatred, he could only furiously curse Wei Ao for his incompetence.

"We lent Wudu to Wei Ao as a place of refuge, but Wei Jimeng has been in Wudu for three full years. Apart from demanding coin and grain and claiming he needed to dredge the waterways to facilitate a northern campaign, he ignored Our decrees, mistreated and conscripted them. Now, sure enough, he has driven the Di people to rebellion, and they have gone over to the State of Wei. Wei Ao must bear half the blame!"

What was even more fatal was that this "rhinitis" was showing signs of spreading toward the throat...

One must understand that the Di people's dwelling places are not limited to Wudu. Ever since the reigns of Han Wudi, Emperor Zhao, and Emperor Xuan — three successive generations of campaigns against the Di — the Di people have been continuously fleeing south. From Wudu southward, all the way to the western frontier of Shu Commandery, there are over a dozen Di tribes, and quite a few have split off from the White Horse Di as well.

If these groups were allowed to collude, stirring chaos from the outside to the inside and drawing the Wei army south, then it would no longer be a simple matter of an itchy nasal passage. Trying to steal a chicken only to lose the bait — failing to gain Longyou while possibly losing both Hanzhong and Wudu!

Though Gongsun Shu was anxious, the Di uprising had cut off the roads from Shu to Wudu for the moment, and reinforcements could not be pushed through quickly. To divert the Wei army's attention, he could only resort to the tactic of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao."

In this military campaign, apart from Wei Ao on the northern route, Gongsun Shu had also dispatched two other routes, from Hanzhong and Nan Commandery. He chose surrendered generals to lead them, grudging to send the elite troops of Shu.

But the commanders of these two routes were no fools either. Take Deng Feng and Jia Fu, who were to emerge from Hanzhong. Most of their old troops were men of Nanyang. After being defeated by Cen Peng and defecting to Gongsun Shu, they were enfeoffed as generals. Yet as surrendered generals from outside, they found it very difficult to integrate into the core of the Cheng court. Although Gongsun Shu put on the airs of a man who humbly welcomes worthy scholars, he never treated the two as his own trusted men. Now, having received orders to march, Deng Feng and Jia Fu, living under another's roof, naturally could not refuse. But if they were too aggressive and spent all their old troops, they would become generals without armies, utterly worthless. So although these two fierce generals were skilled in battle, each was willing to exert only ten or twenty percent of his strength, harassing the border counties of Wei and absolutely not rashly venturing deep.

Tian Rong in the south harbored similar thoughts. Ever since the downfall of Qin Feng, the King of Chuli, he had been guarding a few remnant counties of Nan Commandery as part of Qin Feng's leftover forces. When the Wei army was on the defensive, he could muddle along for a few more years — how could he dare to take the initiative and knock against the hard rock that was Cen Peng?

These men were all old foxes who had changed masters several times in this chaotic age — shrewd to the core, their every action aimed at preserving the troops in their hands. Thus, in Gongsun Shu's campaign plan, Jia Fu and Deng Feng were supposed to have long since cut off Wu Pass and joined forces with Tian Rong at Xiangyang for a north-south pincer attack. The result? Both armies were still dawdling on the border, refusing to go in!

While Gongsun Shu kept dispatching envoys to urge the three generals to advance, his heart was also fixed on the east. He knew that, with the war having reached this stage, his own three-pronged attack on Wei had already become a joke. If he wanted to gain any advantage before Diwu Lun triumphed over the Qiang and Hu, the Han Emperor must also send forth his troops!

But Liu Xiu's side had yet to give any response. Gongsun Shu therefore wrote another letter, offering a commitment.

"If the Han Emperor is willing to direct the armies of Jing and Wu toward Wan and Luo, We shall personally lead the host of Yizhou and emerge into Qinchuan!"

At this moment when the realm was undergoing change, the State of Wei was gradually steadying itself, Shu's offensive had ground to a halt, and Liu Xiu — the one who could break this stalemate — was at Chaisang in Yuzhang Commandery.

This Chaisang was the Jiujiang of later ages, situated precisely at the border of Wu and Chu. The city walls faced Mount Lu to the south, leaned on the Great River to the north, and also linked to Pengli Marsh. Peng means vast; li means gourd — in other words, this low-lying lake region resembled a great gourd ladle, gathering the Great River, the Gan River, and other waterways into a single channel. It was an excellent place to moor a fleet and drill a navy.

Deng Yu, who had been restored to his position among the Nine Ministers, set out from Chaisang city aboard a small boat, heading for the solitary mountain island in the lake. Liu Xiu was there personally drilling the troops.

Pengli Marsh was ordinarily calm and tranquil; a boat moving through it was like sailing across a mirror. But in recent days, as the autumn wind blew fiercely, the scene had suddenly changed — wind and cloud shifted color, and startling waves battered the shore. Deng Yu could only clutch the railing tightly, and when the waves grew larger, he even had to lash himself to the boat.

After a heart-pounding journey, he could make out a mountain peak in the lake from afar. Viewed from ten li away, surrounded by boundless, indistinct lake waters, a green peak rose solitary and sheer, thrusting up into the clouds, as though floating upon the water's surface.

And here the Han navy was assembled — not only great-wing and small-wing warships and mengchong assault vessels, but even an enormous towered ship, which served as Liu Xiu's flagship.

Only after Deng Yu climbed aboard, amid the forest-like masts, oars, sails, and canopies, did he meet the Han Emperor on the deck.

Liu Xiu was in good spirits. Upon meeting him, he first praised Deng Yu: "After the Great Han moved south, our territory stretched too long from east to west. From Jingzhou to Guangling, even traveling downstream takes several days. If the Wei army were to split its forces and strike, it would be rather difficult to look after both head and tail."

"We have been searching for a troop-stationing site that can attend to both east and west. We are indebted to Zhongzi for recommending Chaisang."

Deng Yu acknowledged this and said, "This place commands the mouth of the river and the lake — it is a strategic throat. Back when the King of Huainan plotted rebellion, one of his advisors, Wu, proposed that as long as one had the ships of Xunyang, guarded the city of Xiazhi, knotted the shores of Jiujiang, sealed the mouth of Yuzhang, and defended with strong crossbows overlooking the river, one could bar the troops of Nan Commandery. Now that the Great Han has lost northern Jing, and Jiangling is in Shu hands, we can only defend Jiangxia and Jiujiang to shield all of Wu."

To put it plainly, Chaisang was the Eastern Han's second line of defense. If Sui County and Jiangxia were lost, this place would likely face the Wei army's assault head-on — and the gain or loss of Chaisang and Jiujiang was tied to the survival of Wu Commandery, Kuaiji, and Huainan downstream!

But how could Liu Xiu be content to be an emperor clinging to a corner? He asked Deng Yu, "Zhongzi, how have your talks with the Shu envoy gone these past few days?"

Earlier, Gongsun Shu had sent Jing Han to see Liu Xiu, hoping the two states would send out troops simultaneously. But the Eastern Han had just lost Huaibei in the first half of the year, and then the Shanyue in the interior had begun stirring up trouble — they truly could not spare many troops capable of campaigning. Liu Xiu did not feel this was a good opportunity, so he had secluded himself on the solitary mountain to drill troops and left Deng Yu to parry with him.

Deng Yu, for his part, came to the lake every couple of days to report to Liu Xiu: "Recently, Jing Han has received further instructions from Gongsun Shu. The matters under discussion have advanced a step further. He now says that after jointly annihilating the State of Wei, they are willing to 'divide the realm equally' with our court."

Liu Xiu invited Deng Yu into the ship's cabin to discuss in detail: "How exactly would they divide it?"

"Gongsun Shu is willing to assign Yu, Yan, Qing, Ji, Xu, and You provinces to the Han, and Yong and Liang provinces to Shu. The two states would take Hangu Pass as their border, mutually honor each other as Emperor of the East and Emperor of the West, maintain eternal amity, and jointly govern the realm."

On the face of it, Liu Xiu was getting a great bargain. Gongsun Shu was willing to give him five provinces, while the Cheng family would take only the meager lands west of the pass, content to be a diminished version of the Qin state. This was already a very large concession.

"Empty promises, nothing more." Liu Xiu shook his head at this. Borders must be seized by force of arms — anyone can talk with their mouth. What was more, he had only just declared that "Chang'an shall forever be the Han capital," and now he was to cede it to Gongsun Shu in a treaty right afterward? Would that not be slapping his own face?

Finally, Liu Xiu asked, "What about Bingzhou?"

Deng Yu replied, "Gongsun Shu did not mention it."

"Even if he did not say it, We know."

Liu Xiu sighed and said, "Gongsun Shu must have a secret pact to cede it to the Xiongnu and that false emperor, Lu Fang. This is no equal division of the realm — it is in truth a 'division into three'!"