Chapter 643: Understood

"Your Majesty, this is an opportunity that comes once in a decade. In my humble view, we absolutely must not miss this northern expedition!"

Also present with Deng Yu at the audience with Liu Xiu was General of Martial Display Ma Cheng. He had fought alongside Liu Xiu in the Jianghuai region for many years and had now become the general most skilled in naval warfare, tasked with training the Han fleet at Chaisang.

Ma Cheng was a man of Yingchuan. As one of the largest factions in the Eastern Han, the Yingchuan clique was the most fervent in advocating for the northern expedition. Although he could tell that both Liu Xiu and Deng Yu harbored immense distrust toward Gongsun Shu, he still pressed his case:

"This talk of carving up the Central Plains and ruling the realm together may be empty promises from Gongsun, but right now Diwu Lun has indeed fallen into a situation where enemies beset him on all sides. In the north, fierce Hu tribes strike Bing and Liang provinces; in the west, the Xianlian Qiang harass the Hehuang region. The Chengjia Shu army is advancing on three fronts. Weak as the Shu troops may be, they can at least tie down Cen Peng and the Wei State's forces in Guanzhong for a time. This is precisely the 'shift in the realm' Your Majesty has long awaited!"

wωw ⊙ttκǎ n ⊙℃O

On this point, even Deng Yu, who opposed sending troops, did not deny it. Back when Liu Xiu had just suffered the painful loss of Huaibei, Deng Yu had proposed the strategy of temporarily securing the southeast — moving the capital to Jinling and properly developing the Wu and Kuaiji regions. Because the Wei State was too powerful, making the old capital difficult to retake and Diwu impossible to eliminate quickly, it was better to stand as a tripod in Jiangdong and watch for cracks in the realm.

If only those Qiang and Hu tribes had sent their troops a year or half a year earlier — then the battle of Huaibei might not have been lost.

"It is indeed a fine opportunity," Deng Yu said. "But no one expected the shift to come so swiftly — so swift that the southeast has not yet finished preparing, and the Shanyue rebellion has not yet been quelled."

Every war has a long recovery period, especially for the losing side. Since the Huaibei campaign early in the year, the south had suffered heavy blows. Liu Xiu had to resettle Huaibei refugees and placate the Jiangdong gentry clans, leaving him utterly overwhelmed.

Fortunately, while they could not defeat the strong, they could still draw their blades against the weaker.

As the ancient remnant people of the south, the Shanyue had held sway in the southern regions for many years since the Han. They had also absorbed large numbers of Han commoners fleeing taxes into the mountains, forming armed bands spread across every southeastern commandery.

In the past, the Shanyue had been somewhat resistant to royal authority. Perhaps because they had grown wild living as unregistered people, or perhaps because they thought Liu Xiu's outsider petty court would not last long, the Shanyue never refused the seals and ribbons that officials brought into the mountains to bestow — after all, everyone loves gold and silver, and wearing them around the neck looks impressive. But the moment it came to tribute and corvée labor, the Shanyue chieftains would just chuckle and ignore it.

As long as Han officials did not press too hard, both sides at least coexisted in peace. But this year, in the spring and summer, the Shanyue suddenly grew restless, even demanding that Liu Xiu elevate their "marquis" titles to "king" and directly enfeoff them with several counties!

"Otherwise, we shall go become vassals of the Fifth Emperor!"

The Shanyue's attitude shifted so quickly that Liu Xiu even suspected Wei State agents had infiltrated his territory, bribing and inciting the Shanyue chieftains…

This suspicion was not entirely baseless — it was practically nine-tenths certain! Diwu Lun maintained the Embroidered Uniform Guard, whose very job was to carry out such underhanded, skulking deeds.

Liu Xiu did not hesitate. If he could not beat Diwu Lun, could he not beat you petty Yi and Yue barbarians? Both sides tore off all pretense. The Shanyue in the Huainan and Danyang regions refused to render service and gathered in revolt, which gave Liu Xiu the perfect chance to redirect internal tensions outward.

Yet the ferocity and fierceness of the Wu and Yue warriors were on full display in them. The Shanyue troops could race barefoot through complex mountain forests as if on level ground, and they could use copper, tin, and iron ore to forge their own weapons. Though they were a loose sheet of sand, their fighting strength was not to be underestimated. In a parallel comparison, they might even be stronger than the various Di tribes of Wudu Commandery.

After the Han army suffered several setbacks in mountain encirclement campaigns, Liu Xiu appointed the fierce general Fu Jun as General Who Pacifies the Yue, granting him authority to oversee operations across four commanderies. He also mobilized the Wu and Kuaiji gentry clans to contribute men and resources, dividing his forces to hold all strategic choke points, splitting and surrounding the Shanyue. They only repaired stockades and fences, refusing to engage in battle.

When autumn arrived and their grain was about to ripen, the Han army then let loose its troops to cut it all down, using starvation to force the Shanyue out of the mountains. After several campaigns, the largest tribes were destroyed. Liu Xiu recruited the able-bodied among them as soldiers; the rest were either turned over to government authorities or given to great households as slaves, as a reward for their loyalty to the Great Han.

If this war could be concluded, the southeast, relying on the manpower plundered from the Shanyue to replenish its strength, could recover from the severe pain of losing Huaibei. Yet the Shanyue had not fully submitted; many chieftains were still stubbornly resisting.

Therefore, Deng Yu believed that until the Yue pacification was finished, the southeast could not possibly spare the energy for a large-scale northern expedition.

"I have been to the White Emperor City in Western Shu," Deng Yu explained another reason. "What I saw was a Yizhou exhausted and depleted, Shu troops with low morale. Gongsun Shu has repeatedly sent troops to attack Wei, but from Longyou, Guanzhong, Nanyang, to Jingzhou, he has fought and lost again and again, never able to put up a real fight."

What's more, Gongsun Shu treasured his elite core forces. This time he sent only surrendered generals and surrendered troops as the vanguard. Such troops, facing the wolf-and-tiger divisions of Wei — and split into three routes at that — and they expect to seize Yong and Liang provinces, boasting of joining forces at Wan and Luo?

Deng Yu made a prophetic pronouncement: "His western army, under Wei Ao, is no match for Ma Yuan. Even with Qiang and Hu allies, they will struggle to break out of the Qishan passes."

"And the other two routes will also find it hard to commit fully. Facing Cen Peng, they will not even catch a distant glimpse of Xiangyang."

Deng Yu had suffered a crushing defeat at Cen Peng's hands, paying the price of over ten thousand lives lost on the Han River before he gained the clear-headedness he had today.

"Thus, what is nominally a joint Han-Cheng northern expedition is in reality forced to rely on the Han army as the main force."

This was precisely why Gongsun Shu was willing to make such huge concessions in the verbal treaty!

But after the battles of Jing-Xiang and Huaibei, Deng Yu had come to understand just how great a price must be paid to seize provinces and commanderies from the Wei State.

Liu Xiu nodded. In his heart, he leaned toward Deng Yu. But he had earlier made a high-profile declaration that he would forever fix the capital at Chang'an, to show he would never forget his ambition of a northern expedition to restore the capital. This had greatly encouraged the war hawks of the Yingchuan faction, with General Ma Cheng as one of their leading figures. Even if they did not fight for now, he had to placate them.

Yet just as Liu Xiu was putting on a hesitant expression, a Palace Gentleman came from outside the cabin to report that the Grand Herald, Zhu You, had arrived!

"Wasn't the Grand Herald left behind to guard Jiangdu?!" Deng Yu and Ma Cheng were both shocked at the news. Zhu You was someone Liu Xiu trusted immensely, which was why he had entrusted the capital's administration to him. What great upheaval could have made Zhu You abandon his post and rush here in such haste?

A Shanyue counterattack harassing Jiangdu? A reckless, desperate offensive by the Huaibei Wei army? Surely the gentry clans of Huainan and Wu and Kuaiji could not have decided the Great Han was beyond revival and actually risen in revolt!

With so many internal troubles, it was no wonder the Eastern Han dared not rashly launch a northern expedition.

Liu Xiu, however, remained calm. He ordered Zhu You summoned at once and instructed him to wear plain white clothes and cover his face, lest he be recognized and spark alarm and wild speculation.

But when Zhu You hurriedly ducked into the cabin and explained his reason, it turned out to be a "major matter" that none of the three had expected!

"Your Majesty." Zhu You presented a heavily sealed letter. "A missive has arrived from the Wei false emperor, Diwu Lun!"

…

"A state letter from Diwu Lun?"

Everyone looked at each other. Liu Xiu was no stranger to "state letters" from the Wei State. On the eve of his own proclamation as emperor, Diwu Lun had shamelessly sent an ultimatum demanding Liu Xiu's surrender, promising that if he were willing to become a Wei vassal, he could be enfeoffed as "King of Wu of Great Wei."

Liu Xiu had naturally refused. Since then, although both sides periodically issued denunciations, direct dialogue between the two emperors had ceased entirely.

Now that Diwu Lun had sent a letter at this juncture, Liu Xiu was genuinely curious what he would say. But he absolutely would not open it himself — he should not even look at it! It could only be relayed by a minister.

Because although the two emperors of Han and Wei were rival enemies, neither had recognized the other. Accepting the other's state letter would mean a loosening of stance. If word got out, it would inevitably trigger a huge uproar.

Zhu You had handled diplomacy for Liu Xiu for so many years — how could he not know such a simple principle? How could he commit such a basic error!

"Your Majesty, it is not a state letter."

Zhu You broke the seal, revealing the distinctive yellow paper envelope of the Wei State, and explained the reason: "It is a personal letter written by the Wei ruler, under the private name of Diwu Lun of Changling, addressed to Your Majesty!"

This changed the implication entirely. Only then could Liu Xiu take it. Seeing the familiar handwriting on the envelope, he sighed with emotion: "It is indeed written in Diwu Boyu's own hand."

He recognized this handwriting — of course he did! Back then, Liu Xiu was still the unknown son of a small landowning family in Chongling, while Diwu Lun had already made his name on the northern frontier and taken up his post in Wei Commandery. During that time, Diwu Lun had written him a letter, hoping that Liu Xiu, with whom he had once briefly met in Chang'an, might come to Hebei to serve as an official.

Liu Xiu could not forget it. The letter's words were earnest, offering the price of a County Magistrate — the highest position Diwu Lun could offer at the time. After all, in nearly two generations as minor officials, the highest post anyone in Liu Xiu's family had held was a six-hundred-dan rank.

In those days, the two had even exchanged jade tokens from afar. They were friends — not especially close, but mutually admiring. Who could have foreseen that today they would be enemies fighting for the realm? Diwu Lun was determined to reunify, to stage a grand "overthrowing of the Han" and nail the Liu family coffin shut for good. On Liu Xiu's side, it was "the Han traitor and I cannot both stand; the royal enterprise cannot settle for a partial peace."

This was a clash of paths, a clash over the altars of state. There was no longer any possibility of reconciliation between them — only a fight to the death, with no end but one!

Now that things had come to this, what could Diwu Lun still have to say to him?

Liu Xiu held the letter in his hands. Even Zhu You dared not lightly open its contents; only Liu Xiu could open it.

Just as Liu Xiu was about to break the seal, Deng Yu grew suspicious again and urged caution: "Your Majesty, beware — there may be treachery within!"

That Diwu Lun was so fond of using spies and agents, his methods vicious and venomous. What if he had hidden a deadly poison powder or dried toxin in the letter, aiming to harm Liu Xiu?

Liu Xiu, however, laughed in spite of himself. "Diwu Lun may stoop to base trickery in small matters, but in great affairs he prefers the kingly way and never muddles his priorities. He would not sink to this."

In his view, the contest between himself and Diwu Lun ought to be hero against hero, not descending to the vulgarity of poisons and daggers.

As the envelope opened, Liu Xiu drew out the letter paper, carefully folded by Diwu Lun's own hand. He then walked to the cabin window where the light streamed through, turned his back to everyone, and read it slowly and carefully.

However curious Deng Yu and the others were about the letter's contents, they could only hold back and wait.

Because of the swell from Lake Pengli, the tower ship rocked gently. Deng Yu and the others watched Liu Xiu shake his head as he read the letter; as his eyes moved leftward, he sometimes sighed, sometimes laughed in spite of himself…

Until half a quarter-hour later, when Liu Xiu had finally finished reading the whole letter, he simply rolled it up and said with deep feeling: "I truly did not expect this."

"From the time the Exalted Emperor cut down the white serpent, the Han ancestral altars have endured for two hundred years. From the Nine Ministers and great officials of every era above, down to the Confucian scholars and commoners below — they are beyond counting. Yet the one who best understands what makes the Great Han imperishable, the one who has put his finger on where the Han soul resides…"

Liu Xiu turned around, his expression complex; it was hard to tell whether he wanted to sing out his grief in place of weeping, or to burst into loud laughter: "…is none other than Diwu Lun, the very man bent on snuffing out the last embers of the Han!"