Chapter 649: Brothers

When Wu Han was still a nobody, he had first worked as a Precinct Chief catching thieves and patrolling the roads; later, after killing a man and fleeing to You Province, he made a living selling horses and working as a bodyguard. The people he dealt with most were wandering knights-errant, peddlers, and lowly runners — with such men, Wu Han could easily mix and get along.

But with colleagues from scholar-official and hereditary official families, like Geng and Ma, he found it very hard to fit in.

Wu Han particularly detested the sons of officials who came to the army merely to gild their résumés and pad their records — Diwu Lun valued military merit, and if a man had a stint in the army, his chances of promotion and important assignments as a Palace Gentleman later on were much greater. Such people usually had rock-solid connections and an exceedingly high opinion of themselves; they had indeed read a great many military treatises and could talk eloquently when they opened their mouths, but they always steered well clear of the hardship, toil, and danger in the army.

For this reason, Wu Han generally could not stand such people. Yet with Geng Guang alone, he could find no fault at all: Geng Guang had an excellent family upbringing, a temperament suited to army life, and the ambition to start from the bottom; when clashing with the barbarian foe, he was always the first to charge ahead. Although Wu Han had contended with his elder brother, in truth they also held each other in mutual respect. He could not say he gave Geng Guang any special treatment, but at the very least, the young man was pleasing to his eye.

And to Meng Ze, the deputy commander of the vanguard, Geng Guang was like a right-hand man. Meng Ze had even predicted: "At present, the Left Chancellor Geng Chun and the General of Chariots and Cavalry are hailed as the 'Two Gengs.' In days to come, once this Geng Guang wins merit and makes his name, he is certain to gain His Majesty's recognition and important appointment. Ten or twenty years hence, our court will likely speak of the 'Three Gengs'!"

Who could have expected that barely a day later, Geng Guang would be gravely wounded in battle?

On the road to Tianbei Fortress, Meng Ze told Wu Han: "Geng Guang led one battalion in pursuit of the Right Worthy King. With a force of a mere five hundred riders, he charged into the Xiongnu rear guard. The Right Worthy King's contingent, seeing how few they were, sent a thousand barbarian riders to block them — yet Geng Guang used his shock cavalry to smash through, and even personally slew an eagle-shooter. The Right Worthy King had no choice but to commit more men, ordering another three or four thousand riders to hem him in. Geng Guang fought them bitterly for a very long time, until I and the General arrived one after another. By then, fifty or sixty percent of Geng Guang's troops had fallen in battle, and he himself had taken an eagle-shooter's arrow and was wounded and thrown from his horse…"

The battlefield lay just ahead — a stretch of red-willow sand dunes. Geng Guang was too gravely wounded to be moved and had to be settled here. By now the sky had darkened, and the men had pitched a temporary camp here for the wounded to rest. Geng Guang's subordinates had borne the worst losses; many had severed hands or torn-open bellies, yet they either leaned on deadwood or supported one another, gathering around an ancient desert poplar and refusing to disperse.

Only after Wu Han parted the soldiers surrounding the area did he get a clear look at Geng Guang, who was propped up there. He lay motionless on a mat, his face as calm as it had always been. His helmet had been removed, but his armor could not be taken off — it was covered all over with blade scars, and many of the armor plates had been knocked away in the fierce fighting, greatly reducing the protection over his chest and belly. A sharp arrow, loosed at close range, had flown into his body through this treacherous gap and sunk deep.

But this was not the fatal wound. What was truly lethal was that after he fell from his horse, a Xiongnu warrior had rushed over and driven a slender spear viciously into Geng Guang's body!

"Deputy Commander Meng."

"General Wu."

The soldiers called out the names of their two commanding officers one after another. Only then did Geng Guang slowly open his eyes. He could barely speak now, yet the first thing he asked about was the battle.

"General Wu, was the Right Worthy King captured?"

"Have all the common folk of Hexi been rescued?"

"Deputy Commander Meng, has Tianbei Fortress… been taken?"

Meng Ze hurriedly told him: "The common folk have been rescued. Tianbei Fortress has been retaken. Two or three thousand barbarian captives have all been executed north of Juyan Marsh. As for the Right Worthy King — he still got away."

"A pity, a pity…" Geng Guang murmured "a pity" under his breath, his gaze turning toward Wu Han. This made Wu Han deeply uncomfortable; he had the distinct feeling that if they truly lost Geng Guang, then even having killed so many barbarians, he would still have come out the loser in this battle.

And besides, how could Geng Guang be so flawless? Weren't these hereditary-official sons who used connections to worm their way into the army supposed to show terror at the sight of blood, clinging to life and fearing death? Why was Geng Guang even now not thinking of himself and his family? Wu Han was somewhat taken aback.

But Wu Han soon understood. No matter how outstanding Geng Guang was, he was still a seventeen-year-old youth. He had been forcing himself to endure all along, but now, an expression of extreme agony surfaced on his face. His trembling hand pointed at the broken spear shaft jutting from his chest; he spat frothy blood and, in a most unheroic, tearful voice, said: "General Wu, it hurts. I can't hold on."

This was true, bone-deep pain. Wu Han understood what Geng Guang meant — his wounds were too severe to be treated. Rather than endure the suffering by holding on, better to have a swift end to the pain!

This was also standard practice in the army: a quick release should be given to a comrade beyond saving. Meng Ze's hand trembled as he was about to agree, but Wu Han stopped him.

"I'll do it. I will personally see Battalion Commander Geng off. He has earned it."

Wu Han crouched on one knee before Geng Guang and asked him: "Do you have any last words?"

"I do." Speaking of last words, Geng Guang now finally thought of himself and his family. Tears slid down his face — in all this time, Wu Han had never seen him cry.

"I hope General… Wu can carry a message to my elder brother for me."

"Tell him… A-Guang could not become a 'Huo Qubing' after all."

"But Elder Brother, you must become a 'Wei Qing' who once more smashes the Xiongnu!"

Geng Guang's gaze was growing unfocused. He lifted his head and stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to look once more upon the grasslands and great desert that had appeared countless times in his dreams, to stroke the mount that was to have carried him trampling over Mount Langjuxu, or else, as in childhood, to take his eldest brother's hand, wanting to follow him as he advanced.

That towering figure of his elder brother had always been ahead, but Geng Guang could follow no longer!

Wu Han expertly pushed the dagger into Geng Guang's chest — clean and swift. He then handed the limp body to Meng Ze, letting the latter hold Geng Guang as he wailed in grief, while the soldiers around them also sobbed one after another.

Wu Han, however, turned and walked away with remarkable composure. Only when he reached a place with no one around did he lift his head. Above this remote northern frontier, the sky was filled with a myriad of stars, dazzling and brilliant.

He gazed up for a long time. After a good while, he rubbed his eyes and cursed:

"These frontier stars, they're so damn bright!"

…

Huo Qubing had a famous saying: "The Xiongnu are not yet wiped out — why speak of home?" It was said that this was his declaration when Emperor Wu of Han wished to bestow a mansion upon him.

But not everyone could be like that. Though he too possessed the ambition to sweep away the barbarian dust, Geng Yan, Grand General of Chariots and Cavalry of Wei, placed extraordinary importance on family. As the eldest son of the house, even while achieving renown and success himself, he did his utmost to promote his younger brothers: the second and third brothers served as Palace Gentlemen, which served both as hostages and as a way to become familiar faces around Diwu Lun; by now both had been sent out to the provinces, some becoming County Magistrates, others serving as military advisors.

Yet it was precisely Geng Yan's favorite, his fourth brother Geng Guang, who had developed a stubborn temperament. Having heard from someone the saying "great generals rise from the ranks," he refused to be a Palace Gentleman and insisted on going to Bing Province to enlist. Geng Yan could do nothing about him; in any case, that region was full of former subordinates and old officials, so openly or covertly, they could still help Geng Guang.

But even with this layer of connections, Geng Guang's performance in Bing Province was enough to astonish Geng Yan — though Wu Han and Geng Guang had marched west to Hexi, many officials had remained behind. After Geng Yan arrived with the fifty-thousand-strong central army, the officials in Xin Qinzhong had not been sparing in their praise of Geng Guang to him.

"This lad is young and reckless — he won't amount to much," Geng Yan said with his lips, but in his heart, he was very pleased.

And just after the great army reached Xin Qinzhong, Geng Yan received the latest letter from home.

"On the day of Winter's Beginning, Guang's wife bore a son, named Geng Gong. Weight: sixteen jin and eight liang."

A Han jin is equivalent to only 256 grams in later ages — this weight was on the high side for a newborn, suggesting the child was quite healthy.

After reading the letter, Geng Yan muttered under his breath, "Why tell me?" but in his heart, he was very happy for his younger brother. If he could win merit on campaign and also become a father, that would be a double blessing arriving at once. He only wondered how the defensive campaign in Hexi was going. Wu Han would have no problem fighting a battle, but given his style, casualties among his men would not be low either.

However, Geng Yan soon had to cast aside the family letter, and his worry and longing for his younger brother.

Wu Han had found it strange why the Xiongnu Right Worthy King had been so unaggressive during his retreat — and Geng Yan was exactly the one who could give Wu Han the answer!

Because the Xiongnu main force was not in Liang Province, but in Bing Province!

…

As a member of the realm's separatist powers, Lu Fang's strength was far inferior to Wei, Shu, or Wu, because the half of Bing Province he occupied was not only vast in territory and sparse in population, but also grew ever more desolate under war and Xiongnu raids. The registered households were never plentiful to begin with, and the various commanderies under Lu Fang each went their own way, a sheet of loose sand. Ever since the failed raid on Xin Qinzhong several years earlier, the Hu-Han forces had possessed very few mobile troops.

But while the "Han" had no soldiers, the "Hu" backing Lu Fang certainly did!

By the end of the tenth month, over forty thousand riders directly subordinate to the Chanyu's royal court, led by several Xiongnu clan kings, came sweeping south in a mighty wave, and Lu Fang scraped together thirty thousand civilian laborers and motley troops to follow close behind.

To persuade the Xiongnu Chanyu to send troops, Lu Fang had worn out his lips and tongue, and on top of the agreement to "divide the realm equally" with Gongsun Shu, he had also promised the Xiongnu enormous benefits.

Because Lu Fang had married the Xiongnu Chanyu's daughter, he referred to himself as a son before the Chanyu. This is what he said: "Father Chanyu, at this moment the State of Wei is under attack by the Western Qiang, and the Right Worthy King has also entered Hexi. The main forces of Bing Province have all been transferred away — this is the perfect opportunity to seize it in one stroke! We can even strike south to Anding and capture Xiao Pass!"

"Your son is originally a man of Sanshui County in Anding Commandery, later driven away by that Diwu Lun, which is why I came to seek refuge with Father Chanyu. Though your son's body is in Shuofang, his heart has never left Anding. In the future, the capital shall be established at Sanshui, and from there we will recover Guanzhong, and then set the capital at Chang'an!"

"When that time comes, these lands of Bing Province and elsewhere were originally the rivers and mountains conquered by Modu Chanyu, later seized by the Han people. The grandfather's debt, the grandson repays — all these lands ought to be handed over to Father Chanyu!"

Not only did he intend to "return" the territories opened up during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Lu Fang also planned to throw in all the places suitable for barbarian herding as a gift!

"So long as Father Chanyu helps your son enter Chang'an and take the north, your son will certainly cede a total of sixteen commanderies across You Province, Bing Province, and Liang Province to Father Chanyu!"

These sixteen commanderies were: in You Province, Liaodong, Liaoxi, Youbeiping, and Shanggu; in Bing Province, Dai, Yanmen, Dingxiang, Yunzhong, Wuyuan, Xihe, Shuofang, and Beidi; plus the four Hexi commanderies of Liang Province.

"And I pledge an annual tribute of thirty thousand bolts of silk and one million shi of grain! Han and Xiongnu shall be bound by marriage alliance generation after generation, their amity never broken."

The Xiongnu Chanyu, Huduershidaogaoruodi, was presumably moved by these lavish terms and thus agreed to commit major strength.

Yet just as Lu Fang led the main Xiongnu force south along the Yellow River, he also got word that the Wei General of Chariots and Cavalry Geng Bozhao had entered Bing Province — the campaign suddenly became far harder to fight.

But the army was already on the march, and Bing Province's civilian manpower had been conscripted to the limit. Lu Fang knew full well that if he lost his nerve and turned back, the world would mock him, and his fragile rule would crumble into dust.

So Lu Fang could only steel himself and boast to the Left and Right Grand Generals of the Xiongnu, and to the various commandery governors of Bing Province who nursed their own secret schemes:

"Fear not — We hold the Mandate of Heaven!"

Playing the mystic for all he was worth, Lu Fang declared: "Think back — in years past, the Xin Mang killed Us twice, yet We did not die. Twice Our head was struck off, leaving only the body, yet still We returned to life. This is because We are the true-blooded descendant of the Liu line, shielded by the Exalted Emperor, the Filial Martial Emperor, and every emperor of the Great Han. The Former Han had twelve emperors — and We have twelve lives!"