Chapter 670: Attending the Meeting

Changban Slope was called "Ban'gao" in the Spring and Autumn period and was praised as "the strategic pass of Chu." Its unique terrain made it the sole chokepoint on the otherwise smooth road from Xiangyang to Jiangling.

The place lies in the foothills of the Jing Mountains. A long, gentle slope stretching for several dozen li cuts deep into the Jianghan Plain. South of Changban Slope, it borders the Yunmeng Marshes. Though the lake surface gradually shrank and silted into land by the Han dynasty, there were still many waterlogged depressions and lakes, with waterways crisscrossing everywhere — unsuitable for large armies to march through.

So when heading south, it was still more convenient to cross Changban Slope and go through Dangyang County.

As Cen Peng's most wary opponent, the Han general Feng Yi was quite versed in military matters and saw at a glance the importance of Changban Slope. He personally led twenty thousand Han soldiers to garrison there, while the local feudal lord, Tian Rong, "King of Yi Jiang," stationed over ten thousand troops in Dangyang County seat to the rear.

In mid-April of the tenth year of Wude, hearing that Cen Peng had already marched out of Xiangyang and was bearing straight down on Jianghan, Tian Rong could not sleep through the night. He had to make a choice for his own fate.

Tian Rong was originally a man of Runan Commandery in Yuzhou. He fled to the western part of Nan Commandery after killing someone and breaking the law. When the realm fell into chaos under Wang Mang, he simply raised a bandit force, seized Yiling, and even took Jiangling, calling himself the "Sweeping Grand General" — you can tell from that title that Tian Rong had no education. Later he joined forces with Qin Feng, another warlord in Nan Commandery. Qin Feng married his daughter to Tian Rong, proclaimed himself "King of Chu Li," and made Tian Rong his deputy.

At first, they too were eager to contend for supremacy over the realm. It's just that the two rose early but arrived late to the feast. In the early period they were suppressed by the Gengshi regime. Later, though they presumptuously assumed royal titles, the power of the State of Wei was already pressing on Jingzhou, and Diwu Lun even sent Feng Yan to entice Qin Feng into surrendering.

At the time, Tian Rong still did not know how treacherous the world could be, and he advised Qin Feng thus: "Heroes everywhere each hold commanderies and kingdoms. Gongsun Shu, Liu Xiu, Zhang Bu, Lu Fang, and the like have carved up the provinces. Though Diwu Lun has gained the Central Plains, he still holds no more than five provinces. Victory is undecided — better to keep our armor on and watch how things change."

But he never considered that, given the importance of Nan Commandery in Jingzhou, they had no qualification at all to sit and watch who won or lost. The Chu region was caught in a pincer by the three great powers of Wei, Cheng, and Han. Qin Feng was defeated by Cen Peng and hauled back to Chang'an. Tian Rong could not withstand the attacks from Bashu either. Considering that Gongsun Shu treated surrendered generals the best, he simply surrendered. Gongsun was overjoyed, gave Tian Rong the title "King of Yi Jiang," and entrusted the entire Nan Commandery to him to guard.

Now that war had broken out again, although he had received Feng Yi's rapid support and the two had agreed to form a joint army to resist the enemy at Dangyang and Changban — Feng Yi was even willing to stand at the front to dispel Tian Rong's misgivings — Tian Rong still felt uneasy.

As the day of the great battle drew nearer by the day, Tian Rong grew ever more anxious, thinking: "Cen Peng is a famed general of the realm. Feng Yi and Deng Yu are both his defeated foes. In those days, even with the strength of the King of Chu Li, he was still destroyed by General Cen — how much more so for me? The joint army totals no more than thirty thousand, while Cen Peng claims a hundred thousand. Once Dangyang cannot hold, my best outcome is to be trapped in Jiangling, a prisoner any day now! If I am hauled to Chang'an later, I will hardly escape death, and my treatment will likely be worse than the King of Chu Li's..."

How did Tian Rong know of Qin Feng's recent circumstances? It turned out that over these years, Feng Yan, the Wei state's Grand Herald, had never given up on persuading Tian Rong to surrender. He even had Qin Feng, who was under house arrest in Chang'an, write letters to Tian Rong describing Wei's might and Diwu Lun's magnanimity — that he and Zhang Bu were feudal lords who had resisted stubbornly and surrendered only when they had no choice, yet they were allowed to live and even enfeoffed as "viscounts," with no worries about food or clothing.

Diwu Lun even personally added a few lines to the surrender letter: "If Lord Tian lays down his arms and doffs his armor, and comes to submit with proper ceremony, he will still not lose a marquis's rank. The state secure and the people happy — would that not be splendid?"

Over the past six or seven years, the three states had reached a balance of power in Jingzhou, and none made rash moves. Tian Rong was able to maintain his dignity as a feudal lord and looked down on a mere promise of a marquisate, always feeling he could win better terms. But now the situation was already quite unfavorable. His loyalty to Gongsun Shu was no stronger than Yan Cen's, at best on par with Jia Fu's. After mulling it over repeatedly, Tian Rong gritted his teeth, sought out the Wei state's Embroidered Uniform Guard agent in Dangyang City, and handed him his document of surrender.

"I hope Your Excellency the envoy can hurry north at once and inform Grand General Cen: my plan to surrender is decided. I wish to offer the nine counties east of Yiling to His Majesty the Wei Emperor!"

Tian Rong knew very well that if he still wanted Diwu Lun's promise of "a marquis's rank," he had to deliver a better performance. Fortunately, north of Dangyang, there were over twenty thousand ready-made military merits!

"The one garrisoned at Changban is indeed Feng Yi! Righteousness lies with Wei. On the first day of the fifth month, Tian Rong is willing to strike from north and south together with General Cen, to jointly attack the Wu bandits!"

After sending off the Wei agent, Tian Rong felt somewhat relieved, even a little giddy. Being a feudal lord who ruled a region was glorious — you could decide everything yourself — but you also had to worry about many things: Would Emperor Gongsun in Chengdu grow suspicious and send someone to replace him? Would the trusted officers and officials outside his door breed ambition and kill him? As for the nightmare of a neighboring strong power pressing troops to the city walls any day, that haunted him without a single day's respite.

Now it was all settled. After pulling off this last job, he could lay down this heavy burden. Even if Diwu Lun summoned him to Chang'an and put him under house arrest, at least the rest of his life would be free of worry.

"King of Chu Li, oh King of Chu Li — back then I honored you as my lord, but when we reach Chang'an, I will be the honored guest and you the prisoner. Such are the strange turns of fortune in life."

Having resolved to defect to Wei, Tian Rong actively prepared in Dangyang City. He secretly ordered his trusted men to gather cloth in the four colors of red, yellow, blue-green, and black, then tore plain cloth into strips, and worked through the night to sew the five-colored banners of the Five Powers...

There were still some ten-odd days before the appointed date. Just as Tian Rong was anxiously waiting for Cen Peng's reply, a Han army colonel came to see him, saying that General Feng Yi invited Tian Rong to discuss plans for resisting the enemy.

"Letters and oral messages are inevitably prone to leaks. We need to talk in detail face to face."

Tian Rong originally did not wish to go, but he feared arousing Feng Yi's suspicion. As far as he knew, Feng Yi's troops were not just these twenty thousand — there were also over ten thousand naval troops moored at Huarong County by the Yunmeng Marshes. If that fellow Feng turned around and withdrew south, that would be trouble.

And the meeting place Feng Yi proposed put Tian Rong even more at ease: it was not the Han army's main camp at Changban Slope, but the "Dangyang Bridge" between Dangyang County and Changban.

"Since it's the midpoint, there should be no trouble," Tian Rong told himself. Over the past half month, there had been several similar meetings. Each time he had been able to drink and chat cheerfully with Feng Yi, and no danger had ever arisen. This time should be the same.

Tian Rong thus took several hundred men out of Dangyang County seat, passed through the military camp stationed outside the city, and traveled twenty li north, where a gurgling river flowed. Tian Rong and Feng Yi used this river to demarcate their encampments.

The wooden Dangyang Bridge spanned the river, and there was even a small pavilion on the bridge — this kind of bridge was very common in Jingzhou. Because the south had much rain, the small pavilion provided shelter from wind and rain for travelers, and it was also called a wind-and-rain bridge.

Feng Yi, whom Liu Xiu praised as the "Grand Tree General," was a reserved and modest man. As was his habit, he arrived early and sat waiting in the pavilion. Beside him was only one tall, large-bodied guard, clad in armor but holding no sharp weapon, standing with hands behind his back at Feng Yi's side.

Seeing this, Tian Rong felt embarrassed to bring too many men onto the bridge. He merely dismounted and had one trusted follower trail behind him. They appeared to carry no weapons, but in truth, both Tian Rong and his guard had short swords concealed on them, in case of unforeseen events...

Tian Rong stepped onto the bridge. The wooden bridge was somewhat aged, and the old planks creaked under the tread of his leather boots.

From a long way off, Tian Rong broke into a smile and called out warmly to Feng Yi: "Gongsun!"

He was a man of Runan, and Feng Yi was a man of Yingchuan. Though Ying and Ru were two commanderies, their customs and accents were similar. Tian Rong and Feng Yi could be considered half fellow-countrymen, and Tian Rong had often used this to build rapport in the past. Thinking of Feng Yi's gentle nature, he even felt a moment of shame in his heart for being about to betray his ally.

Hearing the call, Feng Yi also rose to his feet. He wore the robe of a Han general and made a deep bow to Tian Rong, his head lowered — Feng Gongsun was just that courteous. In their past meetings, he had insisted on treating Tian Rong with "the rites due to the feudal lord of a different state."

Tian Rong dared not put on airs either. He hurriedly walked a few steps over, came before Feng Yi, and supported him by both arms. Feng Yi had a tall and sturdy build; even bowing at the waist, he was roughly the same height as Tian Rong.

"Cheng and Han are like one state, you and I like one body — General Feng, please, you must not do this!"

Feng Yi, however, grasped Tian Rong's hands in return. Unlike the gentle grip of their past cheerful handshakes, this was rather forceful, as if he had clamped a pair of iron manacles onto Tian Rong, making it impossible for him to break free!

"Well said, King of Yi Jiang. We ought to join forces against the enemy — how could we conceal anything, or even secretly defect to the Wei bandits?"

As he spoke and raised his head, Tian Rong saw an unfamiliar face and only then cried out in shock: "You are not Feng Gongsun!"

In the blink of an eye, the trusted follower behind Tian Rong was about to draw his sword, but the burly guard behind "Feng Yi" had already rushed forward in a few strides and thrown him to the ground bare-handed!

And as a drumbeat sounded, from the woods south of Dangyang Bridge, Han soldiers who had been lying in ambush there for who knows how long filed out in a stream and completely surrounded the men who had accompanied Tian Rong to the meeting!

In a brief moment, Tian Rong had become a prisoner. He knew in his heart that his plan had likely been exposed, but he still put on an innocent face and angrily cursed the fake Feng Yi: "Who are you?"

"I am the Han General of the Tiger's Teeth, Yao Qi."

Yao Qi was a fellow townsman of Feng Yi and a talent whom Feng Yi had personally recommended to Liu Xiu. Because his build was similar to Feng Yi's, today he played the part of his patron for once. Unlike Feng Yi, who leaned toward strategy, Yao Qi was one of the very best fighters among all the Han army's generals. Capturing Tian Rong bare-handed was a mere trifle to him.

Tian Rong was still putting up a bold front: "I am a feudal king under Emperor Gongsun of the Cheng family! Now that I have been attacked by the Han army, are you people trying to destroy the alliance between Cheng and Han?"

Yao Qi grew stern and took out a small banner from his personal guard's hands: the hastily sewn five-colored banner. "General Tian ordered his trusted men to sew this item through the night — what is the meaning of that?"

It seemed there was a Han army mole among his trusted men in Dangyang City. Tian Rong knew things looked bad and could only stubbornly retort: "What is improper about this? This king merely wished to send men disguised as Wei troops to launch a surprise attack on Cen Peng! Yao Qi, you are a mere miscellaneous-title general, unworthy to speak with this king. Where is Feng Yi, Feng Gongsun?!"

Yao Qi revealed a smile: "General Feng knew your heart harbored treachery and ordered me to set this trap to seize you here. The Grand General has taken the naval forces into the Yunmeng Marshes, sailing upstream to Jiangling City, to take over that great city of Nan Commandery — to serve as the foundation for resisting Wei!"