Chapter 667: Shu Has No Great Generals

Gongsun Shu had, after all, served as an official in the Xin Dynasty. Once he became Emperor, he shared one trait with Wang Mang: a fondness for changing the names of commanderies, counties, and official titles to match his own "auspicious omens."

For example, the perfectly good Hanzhong Commandery of old was forcibly split into three by Gongsun Shu, with the new commanderies of "Hanzhong," "Chengxing," and "Shangyong" created. Of course, such a division also made it easier to assign different ministers to garrison them, achieving a divide-and-rule effect. Yet, when the Wei army marched south in force, this balancing tactic instead made cooperation and mutual support between the commanderies difficult, leaving them vulnerable to being defeated one by one.

The capital of "Chengxing Commandery" was Xicheng (modern-day Ankang in Hanzhong), once the political center of the Hanzhong region. Its city walls were no less sturdy than Nanzheng's, and its population was comparable. It controlled the Badong Road to the south, defended against the Ziwu Valley to the north, and connected to Shangyong in the east. It was garrisoned by Yan Cen.

At the end of the third month of the tenth year of Wude, when word arrived that Ma Yuan had broken through Yangping Pass and that Mianyang and Nanzheng had both fallen, Yan Cen's old subordinates came in droves to request an audience, asking, "My Prince, with things as they are, can Xicheng still be held?"

Yan Cen, courtesy name Shuya, was a native of Zhuyang County in Nanyang Commandery. He had raised troops amid the chaos at the end of Wang Mang's reign, joined the Greenwood western expedition army, and became a subordinate of Liu Jia, the Prince of Hanzhong. But the Gengshi regime was hopeless—within a few years, it was shattered by the Red Eyebrows, and Hanzhong was caught between Wei and Shu. At that critical moment, it was Yan Cen who had boldly raised his troops and defected to Shu, allowing Gongsun Shu to easily enter Hanzhong.

Now, having been a minister of Shu for over a decade, Yan Cen could only shake his head helplessly at his subordinates' deliberate questions and say, "It cannot be held."

Yan Cen pointed to his stomach. "Think of it this way: Nanzheng and Yangping Pass are Hanzhong's western gateway, its mouth and throat. My Xicheng is the stomach, and Shangyong and Fangling are the intestines. Now that the throat is lost, the iron spear of the Wei army can pierce straight through the stomach and intestines, thrusting all the way to the rear exit in one breath. How can it be held?"

In his heart, Yan Cen was never truly loyal to Gongsun Shu to the death. Over a decade ago, when Diwu Lun had first raised his army in Guanzhong, he had sent Feng Yan into Shu to contact Gongsun Shu for a Wei-Shu alliance against the various Han factions. Passing through Hanzhong, Feng Yan was captured by Yan Cen and later released. Before leaving, he had tried to persuade Yan Cen to defect to Wei, but Yan Cen, coveting Gongsun's promise to make him a prince, had made the opposite choice.

Afterward, Gongsun Shu fulfilled his promise, granting him the title "Prince of Mianning" and the privilege of wearing his sword at court. But he immediately followed this by partitioning Hanzhong, which invisibly shrank Yan Cen's territory considerably.

Looking at a map, this "Chengxing Commandery" was larger than many commanderies in the Central Plains, but it was mostly mountainous. Its jurisdiction initially consisted of only two counties, forcibly split into five. Although Gongsun Shu also gave him the title of "Grand Marshal" as a consolation, the seeds of discontent had already been sown in Yan Cen's heart.

Hearing Yan Cen speak this way, his trusted followers were even more relieved. Being natives of Nanyang, their homeland had long been under Wei's control, and they were unwilling to die for Gongsun. They all intended to urge Yan Cen to lead them in surrendering to Wei.

Knowing Yan Cen thought highly of himself and was often dissatisfied with his empty Grand Marshal title, they flattered him, saying, "Wu Han, a man of Nanyang, defected to Wei even later than you, my Prince, defected to Shu. Yet now, Wu Han has been enfeoffed as Wei's Grand General Who Guards the North, with a marquisate of ten thousand households and a hundred thousand troops under his command. With your abilities, my Prince, had you joined Wei back then, your status today would be no less than Wu Ziyan's..."

"Indeed, the prince of this Cheng family rules over only a few counties. He may well be less well-off than a marquis of ten thousand households in Wei."

The implication was clear: it was not too late to join Diwu Lun now!

But their loose talk unexpectedly touched a sore spot in Yan Cen's heart. His face remained impassive, but inwardly, he thought:

"No. Raising the Wei banner now is already too late!"

Over the past decade or so, Feng Yan had not been idle, sending people with gifts of gold to invite Yan Cen to respond to Wei. But in the earlier years, the realm's situation was still unsettled, and in the later years, Gongsun Shu had indeed treated the worthy with courtesy, elevating Yan Cen to the foremost of his military officers, greatly satisfying his vanity. He had felt somewhat embarrassed to jump ship. Since Wei was resting and recuperating, with no war on either front, he had simply let things drift.

This hesitation dragged on until the damned tenth year of Wude. After the war began, just as Yan Cen was pondering how to coordinate with the Wei army, make a dignified jump, and earn merit for maximum gain, news arrived of Jing Han's crushing defeat at Yangping Pass and the loss of Mianyang and Nanzheng!

"That was far too fast!"

So fast that Yan Cen hadn't even had time to finish embroidering the Five Virtues banner.

Now it was Yan Cen's turn to have a headache. "If I rush to submit to Wei now, I'll be like a panicked rat—at best, a surrender. In the eyes of Ma Yuan and the others, it would be no different from capitulation!"

Forget comparing himself to his Nanyang compatriot Wu Han; he feared he might not even obtain a marquisate. Worse, he would bear the infamy of abandoning Gongsun. The cost was too great, the benefit too small—it wasn't worth it.

Thinking this, Yan Cen looked at his trusted followers and said sternly, "Gentlemen, are you perhaps considering submitting to Diwu Lun?"

The men all bowed their heads, protesting that it was not out of fear of death, nor fear of Ma Yuan, but because Gongsun Shu, while ostensibly honoring Yan Cen, had in fact given him only a paltry few counties. Even in resisting the Wei army, he had preferred to use Jing Han to suppress Yan Cen. They were simply indignant on their lord's behalf! Better to revolt!

Seeing everyone present acting this way, Yan Cen understood. If he ordered resistance, his own head would likely be cut off and delivered to Ma Yuan's desk by the next day. He sighed and said, "In that case, all of you may do as you please."

The men were shocked. "General, why do you say such a thing?"

Yan Cen sighed. "Though I have not read much, I have heard the saying: He who eats another's food must be loyal to his affairs."

"You take me as your lord, so naturally you consider Yan Cen's interests in everything. But the Gongsun Emperor is my lord. He enfeoffed me as a prince, honored me as a general, and his annual rewards have never been lacking. Now that the Wei army has invaded, and this small town of Xicheng cannot withstand Ma Yuan's great host, everyone may surrender—everyone except me!"

This speech, so full of righteous duty, stunned the listeners. Where had this awareness been over a decade ago, when Yan Cen had betrayed the Gengshi regime and drawn his sword to threaten Liu Jia, the Prince of Hanzhong?

But since Yan Cen had not stopped them from joining Wei and had given them a way out, the situation had not escalated to the point of drawing blades to remonstrate. Some were already wiping away tears. "And what of you, my Prince? Do you intend to follow the path of Wei Ao?"

Yan Cen laughed heartily. "I am a true man! Would I follow Wei Jimeng's path of suicide when cornered? When you open Xicheng's gates to welcome Ma Yuan, I shall take a few riders and head south to Ba-Shu, returning to Chengdu to beg the Gongsun Emperor for punishment!"

His subordinates looked at each other, speechless. The Yan Cen before them seemed a stranger.

In truth, Yan Cen had already calculated everything in his mind. By effectively yielding Xicheng, he was offering it as a gift to the Wei Emperor. Letting his subordinates join Wei first—though not all would necessarily do well—meant he would have "his own people" on that side in the future.

And returning to Chengdu alone carried no risk; in fact, it held opportunities!

After over a decade of scheming and infighting, Yan Cen had thoroughly grasped Gongsun Shu's temperament. Gongsun Shu had never trusted surrendered generals, relying solely on men like Jing Han. Now, Jing Han's fate was unknown, but after this great defeat, he was utterly finished.

Yizhou might be exhausted, but it still had a population of several million and no shortage of soldiers. What it lacked were generals skilled in warfare!

"From now on, Shu will have no great generals. If Gongsun Shu wishes to resist Diwu Lun with the tiny territory of Ba-Shu, he will have no choice but to heavily rely on me, who is skilled at commanding troops!"

Yan Cen could already envision it. Once he reached Chengdu, wept bitterly, and recounted a harrowing tale of cutting a bloody path through a host of enemies and the hardships of his return, the abandoned and isolated Gongsun Shu would surely be deeply moved. To establish a model of loyalty and to prevent a swift collapse, he would certainly hand military power to Yan Cen, making him a true Grand Marshal!

By then, the cards in Yan Cen's hand would be far more numerous than now.

He could lead the Shu troops, put up a token resistance using the natural defenses of Ba-Shu, make Ma Yuan and the others suffer, and then, at the most opportune moment, "rise up" and defect to Wei, securing a dignified reception and high honors.

There was even another possibility!

"I've heard recently that Gongsun Shu, troubled by state affairs, is in poor health. If he dies before Wei has destroyed Wu and taken Ba-Shu, I could even follow Wang Mang's example—usurp Gongsun's place in Chengdu and try out that imperial throne myself, see how comfortable it is!"

Yan Cen possessed neither the morality to swear undying loyalty to anyone, nor an addiction to betraying his lords. In everything he did in life, he followed only one rule.

"A true man in this world would rather be a chicken's beak than a cow's rump!"

Yan Cen was true to his word. As the Wei army closed in on Xicheng, he took only a few hundred men south along the Badong Road, even burning the plank roads along the way to make the Wei army's future advance south into Ba-Shu more difficult.

Meanwhile, the majority of Yan Cen's subordinates opened the city gates and surrendered. With Ma Yuan's entry into this territory, only the eastern "Shangyong Commandery" (modern-day Zhushan and Fang County in northwestern Hubei) in Hanzhong still flew the White Emperor's banner.

Compared to the Shu heartland, this newly established Shangyong Commandery was by no means a good place. Not only was its territory vast and remote, with deep mountains and treacherous rivers—a land of harsh terrain and foul waters—but its jurisdiction consisted of a mere five counties, each with fewer than ten thousand households.

Yet, from a military strategist's perspective, to say Shangyong was unimportant would be wrong. To the west, it reached Xicheng and Nanzheng; to the east, it was close to Wancheng and Xiangyang. The "Yun Pass" on the Mian River was a vital choke point. To the north, it connected to Wu Pass; to the south, it was shielded by the Ba Mountains and the Three Gorges. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Qin and Chu had fought many battles over Shangyong. The year after Chu finally lost Shangyong, the Qin army marched straight south to the banks of the Yangtze.

But to say it was very important... In the decade-plus it had been in Gongsun Shu's hands, the Shu army had rarely been able to sortie east to threaten Wu Pass and Nanyang, nor had it easily coordinated with friendly forces in Jiangling in Nan Commandery...

There were exceptions, however. Six or seven years ago, two young generals had penetrated deep into Wei territory, occupying Danyang and forcing the main road between Guanzhong and Nanyang to be cut, with Wu Pass having to close and impose martial law for three months! In the end, it took Wei's Grand General Who Guards the South, Cen Peng, returning with his army from Xiangyang to retake the lost ground.

These two men were Jia Fu and Deng Feng. The former was nominally Gongsun Shu's subject to begin with; the latter, his homeland seized by Diwu Lun, had been forced by circumstance to join Shu. Impressed by their valor and ferocity, Gongsun Shu promoted them, appointing Jia Fu as Governor of Shangyong and Deng Feng as Commandant of Shangyong. The two were stationed there as a pair.

Unfortunately, Gongsun Shu still harbored misgivings about them. He had long been troubled by Jia Fu's earlier desire to leave and join Liu Xiu, and refused to trust him. Deng Feng repeatedly petitioned Gongsun Shu for thirty thousand troops, thumping his chest and guaranteeing he could sweep across Nanyang, block Wu Pass to the north, and press Cen Peng to the south, but Gongsun Shu always delayed his approval. He only wanted Jia and Deng to take risks with their old units.

The two gradually grew disheartened. Moreover, with Cen Peng's tight defenses, they found no good opportunities and chose to preserve their strength, making no further major moves.

It seemed it was not that Shu lacked great generals, but that Gongsun Shu could not use them well.

Now, in the fourth month of the tenth year of Wude, the weather in Shangyong was already quite hot and muggy. In the commandery office, Governor Jia Fu and Commandant Deng Feng sat facing each other in silence.

Laid out on the table was the dire news of the great defeat and lost territory in the west. Shangyong's fragile link to Ba-Shu had been completely severed as the Wei army swept through Hanzhong!

When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. Shangyong could not remain unscathed. Both men understood that the five years of stability were over. They had to make a choice for the future.

Deng Feng pondered for a long time and was about to speak, but Jia Fu spoke first.

"Fengxian."

Jia Fu rose and said, "At this point, the fall of the Cheng family is beyond saving. We have guarded Shangyong for the Gongsun Emperor for many years, keeping the Wei army from advancing even half a step past Yun Pass — we have fulfilled our duty as sovereign and subject. Fengxian is surely unwilling to surrender to Wei. That being the case, why don't we all head south together, cross the Three Gorges, and go join our Nanyang fellow countryman Liu Wenshu?"