Chapter 95: Well, That's No Problem Then

Shanghe City lies over a hundred li north of Tewu County. Also called Lingzhou City, it sits on the western bank of the Yellow River and is the heart of New Qinzhong.

Construction here dates back to the time of Emperor Wu of Han. With the Xiongnu driven far off and no royal court left south of the desert, Emperor Wu conscripted six hundred thousand men to march north, dig canals, and turn ten thousand li of pasture into farmland and homesteads. To manage these half-soldier, half-farmer settlers, the court established the post of "Agricultural Commandant" in each commandery, charged with opening military farms and growing grain — in simple terms, the equivalent of a later-era production and construction corps.

As in the Former Han, the Agricultural Commandant answered directly to the Grand Minister of Agriculture — now called the Minister of Words. The rations for the ten thousand troops under the Swallow-the-Hu General were supplied by the Shanghe Agricultural Commandant. But over the past decade, the Xin Dynasty declared war on the Xiongnu several times, and troops frequently garrisoned here, emptying the Agricultural Commandant's grain reserves. The Boar-Rush Braves had to scour other counties for grain as a supplement.

Barely a month after settling in New Qinzhong, the Swallow-the-Hu General's forces were already running short on provisions. That was why he cared so much about the grain from Tewu County. If it were all lost, the damage would be immense.

So when he learned that only Major Ru Chen had been killed, and that the five thousand dan of grain he was transporting had been saved by Diwu Lun's desperate defense and rushed to the main camp through the night, Han Wei could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Just a man dead — well, that's no problem then.

What Diwu Lun reported next, however, was more troublesome: "Your subordinate fell for the bandits' diversion. To rescue Major Ru Chen and keep the barrier fort secure, I led men to drive off the bandit main force. I did not expect them to send a surprise force against my grain convoy. A thousand dan of grain were all burned, and Company Commander Dai, who was escorting the grain, also died in battle. Lun bears a grave crime!"

The Swallow-the-Hu General had no choice but to convene a midnight council of war to debate Diwu Lun's merits and faults.

Some held that, by military law, Diwu Lun had lost grain and should be beheaded!

This alarmed Han Wei. Whatever else one might say, Diwu Lun had been personally received by the Emperor and designated an Attached City, and had even been granted a cap. Although Han Wei found him far too indolent to entrust with heavy responsibility, killing him out of hand would be rash.

Seeing the general hesitate, the army judge also changed his tune, suggesting that dismissal from office would be about right.

It was Liangqiu Ci, who had accepted far too many bribes and favors from Diwu Lun, who cleared his throat, stepped forward, and spoke a word of fairness.

"General, the meaning of the Spring and Autumn Annals is that the gentleman judges the heart. Diwu Lun lost the grain because he was zealous for the public good. Upon learning that Ru Chen was under attack, he rushed to rescue his allies, heedless of his own safety. As the saying goes, one whose intent is good but who transgresses the law is to be pardoned. He should not be harshly blamed."

Although Liangqiu Ci was pained to learn that his old subordinate Dai Gong was dead — burned to death by the bandits with appalling cruelty, not even his bones left — how could an old acquaintance compare to a new one? The one who now brought him the greatest profit, and who had even gotten the Son of Heaven to summon him, was Diwu Lun.

If Diwu Lun were dismissed or killed, Liangqiu Ci would lose a key lieutenant. He had to protect him. What was more, Diwu Lun had promised that if he could gain full control of Tewu County, the benefits to Liangqiu Ci would be even greater.

At these words, some agreed and some objected. The army judge retorted, "Colonel Liangqiu, military law demands strict obedience. How can cases be judged by the Spring and Autumn Annals' method of adjudicating intent? Of all those who break ranks, miss deadlines, or lose their way in battle — whose original intent was to deliberately violate military law? If we followed Colonel Liangqiu's argument and judged everyone by their original intent, would we not have to reduce every sentence?"

Liangqiu Ci, worthy descendant of the great scholar Liangqiu He, might be greedy, but his rhetorical skill was not lacking. With a solemn face he said, "I merely cited one example. Even without invoking the Spring and Autumn Annals, Diwu Lun's merits in this affair outweigh his faults!"

Wωω◆ tt kΛn◆ CΟ

He told the Swallow-the-Hu General a story: "In the time of Emperor Xuan of the Former Han, the Grand General Huo Guang dispatched five generals to attack the Xiongnu. Because the Xiongnu had fled far away, none of the five generals achieved any military merit. The only one who did was the envoy Chang Hui."

"Chang Hui was ordered to go to Wusun and join with the Kunmi to aid the Han in striking the Hu. He crushed the forces of the Right Worthy Prince, capturing over thirty thousand people and several hundred thousand head of livestock — a great victory. Yet Chang Hui also committed an error: the Wusun people stole his official seal, his ribbon, and his staff of authority. By law, that was a capital offense!"

"But the ministers at court deliberated together and concluded that Chang Hui's merit was great and his fault small. So not only was he not punished, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Changluo."

"The same applies today. Although Diwu Lun lost a thousand dan, he saved five thousand. He also prevented the bandits from raiding the barrier fort and kept southern Tewu County secure. If he is still punished for this, I fear the three armies will be chilled to the heart. In the future, when any of you gentlemen come under attack by bandits or Hu raiders and seek aid from allied forces, who will dare to come to your rescue with all their strength?"

These words rang with conviction. The assembled officers nodded repeatedly. The army judge was left speechless, and Han Wei also found the argument reasonable.

Thus, on Liangqiu Ci's advice, since the south of the county was now undefended — Ru Chen not only dead himself, but the greater part of his Boar-Rush Braves having fled — Diwu Lun, already familiar with Tewu County, was ordered to rally and reorganize them, and to garrison the barrier fort to guard against bandits.

After the others dispersed, Diwu Lun came in to receive his orders. He promised to make up the lost thousand dan of grain within ten days, then hurried south.

That night, the more Han Wei thought about it, the less simple it seemed. He summoned Liangqiu Ci and said, "This old man cannot shake the feeling that something is amiss here!"

"If this had happened in Qingxu or Jiangxia, that would be one thing. But here on the frontier, with a great army of ten thousand close by — what bandits have the leopard's gall to raid my grain convoy in broad daylight?"

"Furthermore, bandits plunder for nothing but coin and grain. Even if they killed a major deep inside the county, they could not have hauled away those heavy supply wagons. And they even burned a thousand dan of my grain."

This was beyond the work of ordinary bandits — unless their aim was never plunder in the first place!

Liangqiu Ci's heart jolted. "General, you mean... this was the doing of Hu raiders?"

With Wang Mang declaring war on the Xiongnu and even setting up a puppet, "Shan Yu Xubu," the Xiongnu — who had originally still wanted a marriage alliance — responded after a moment of bewilderment. The Left and Right Worthy Princes both led their forces south, guarding against a Xin army sortie beyond the frontier.

"The Hu raiders are still on the far side of the Beiyi Mountains, separated by the Gobi desert. And with our great army stationed here — how could they reach Tewu County?"

Han Wei's expression grew heavy. "This general suspects that behind our own lines, there are collaborators of the Hu raiders!"

He had a map spread out and pointed to Guangyan County (Sanshui County), south of Tewu County. "South of Tewu lies the Anding Dependent State."

The Anding Dependent State was established during the Yuanshou era of Emperor Wu of Han. As a Han-dynasty version of a loose-rein prefecture, it settled the attached tribes of the Xiongnu Hunye and Xiutu branches. Its capital was at Sanshui, just over the mountains from Tewu. Later, when Zhao Chongguo and Feng Fengshi campaigned against the Western Qiang, some of the defeated Qiang were also relocated here by the court from Hehuang. Since then, the Anding Dependent State has been a mixed settlement of Qiang and Hu, half-farming and half-herding. In wartime, they are conscripted in lieu of taxes; the Changshui Hu Cavalry, one of the Eight Colonels of the Northern Army, repeatedly distinguished itself in battle.

But in a dynasty's twilight, these mercenaries become a destabilizing force on the frontier. Moreover, because Emperor Wang Mang stripped the various Qiang and Hu "Marquises Who Have Returned to Righteousness" of their titles, there was considerable resentment against the court. Han Wei had reason to suspect that this attack on his grain convoy, ostensibly by hemp-masked bandits, was in fact orchestrated by Xiongnu envoys who had infiltrated the area and incited the Qiang and Hu lords of the Dependent State!

"'One zhong of the enemy's grain consumed is worth twenty zhong of our own; one dan of their fodder is worth twenty dan of ours.' The Xiongnu may not be versed in the art of war, but they understand this principle."

The more Han Wei pondered, the more cold sweat beaded on his skin. "Since the Han times, north and south have been at peace. For generations, no beacon fires have been seen. Xiongnu envoys have come and gone freely through the border passes. I fear they have long since infiltrated the Dependent State, and now they have us caught between two fronts."

The Swallow-the-Hu General, believing he had glimpsed the Xiongnu plot, struck the table and rose. He immediately dispatched men south to Anding Commandery to confer with Wang Xiang, cousin of Emperor Wang Mang and Grand Governor of Anding, laying out these grave facts.

At the same time, he gave orders to recall Major Dong Xi of the Xing Army, who had already gone north over a hundred li to garrison beyond the Hunhuai Barrier. His force of a thousand regulars was to proceed to Tewu County by the sixth month.

"No matter who is behind this or for what purpose, bandits must be wiped out at all times. They must be wiped out!"

Canal Gap Barrier, wedged between the Qin Canal and the Han Canal — hence its name — was the defensive line south of the county seat.

A typical frontier barrier town, it measured two hundred paces east to west and a hundred-odd paces north to south, with gates on the south and north sides. Its walls rose two zhang high, built of rammed earth layered with reeds. The walls even had projecting bastions, and watchtowers stood at all four corners.

Such a tightly defended barrier town — Diwu Lun could rack his brains and still not understand how, that day, Ma Yuan had so easily forced the gates with a mere seventy or eighty men.

Yet it was not beyond reason. The Xin army's conscripts could scatter and rout just from marching too fast, let alone fighting. Ru Chen mistreated his subordinates; the vast majority of the Boar-Rush Braves had no desire to die for him. Even his few trusted men were adept at abusing civilians and bullying soldiers, but helpless in combat against an enemy.

Fortunately, all that was now a turned page. From this day forward, Diwu Lun was the new master of this barrier fort.

The first thing Diwu Lun did after taking up his post was to absorb and reorganize the scattered remnants of Ru Chen's troops.

Clad in a suit of lamellar armor, wearing the qilin-leather cap bestowed by Wang Mang, and with the long sword gifted by Huan Tan at his waist, he stood atop the barrier wall, imposingly sweeping his gaze over the four hundred-odd men before him.

It must be understood that the greater part of Ru Chen's force had died or collapsed on the march, leaving fewer than four hundred. During their month or so in Tewu County, they had frantically press-ganged able-bodied men, swelling their ranks to eight hundred. Now that he was dead, they had reverted to their original form.

At the front stood Ru Chen's former trusted men — centurions and junior officers — each puffing out his chest, hoping to win the new commander's favor and continue riding roughshod over the common soldiers.

"Personal guards and close-combat retinue of Major Ru Chen — step forward!"

The men looked at one another. Finally, seventy or eighty stepped out. Ru Chen had embezzled payroll and squeezed the ordinary soldiers' rations precisely to support these men. They were the same ones who had run amok alongside the Xing Army on the march.

Diwu Lun's tone was pure officialdom: "A major is the commander of his troops. His personal guard and close-combat retinue should number a hundred. Why are there only you?"

The lead centurion explained that part of them had died in battle alongside Ru Chen that day.

Diwu Lun's face hardened. "Then why did you not die?"

"Huh?" The men were stunned.

Diwu Lun declared loudly: "Military law: if the commanding officer dies in battle and his personal guard and close-combat retinue failed to protect him, they are to be executed according to law. Seventh Biao, First Jiming!"

"Aye!"

"Arrest every one of them!"

Diba Biao had long been waiting in the rear with two hundred of the Fifth Battalion's Boar-Rush Braves. At these words, he immediately forced the seventy or eighty men to the ground. Some twisted their heads aside and cried out their innocence: "Major Diwu, that day we were not at our Major's side!"

Diwu Lun looked down and asked, "And why were you not?"

"Because... because our Major ordered us to garrison the fort, so we did not follow."

Diwu Lun flew into a rage. "And that is your reason for not fighting to the death to protect your Major? Did you hold the fort? If I had not arrived in time, this place would already have been taken by the bandits — you would be guilty all the same!"

With that, he swept a hand, and Diba Biao and the others shoved this group outside the fort, forcing them to kneel on the ground.

Among these seventy or eighty men, executing them all would certainly wrong some who were innocent.

But kill every other one, and some guilty would absolutely slip through!

The scene stunned everyone, and then Diwu Lun began calling names again. He looked at the remaining three hundred men — their clothes in tatters, gaunt as sticks, their eyes seeming very large. All were Boar-Rush Braves who, over the past half year under Ruchen's command, had been bullied and oppressed by these short-weapon personal guards. Driven by spear-shafts and whips, they had pushed and hauled carts and wagons over two thousand eight hundred li, surviving only by luck.

There were also those who had been living peacefully in this county, until one day Ruchen sent his short-weapon personal guards to smash down their doors and seize their grain, dragging the people off as conscripted laborers as well.

"The short-weapon personal guards have all committed capital crimes. Now we lack men to carry out the executions. Which of you is willing to do it?"

For a long while, no one responded. Only after a good pause did a thin, bony hand rise. "I will..."

Once there was a first, more and more hands went up, until they gradually became a forest. These were the bolder ones among the crowd, their eyes red-rimmed, their hearts burning with the fury of vengeance and the need to vent their rage.

"I am willing to hold the blade for the Major!"

In a short while, from these dwarves the taller ones were picked — over a hundred Boar-Rush Braves. Each was issued a ring-pommel saber. Facing the short-weapon personal guards, who were bound up tight and fast, they raised the blades with trembling hands.

The two sides stared at each other. Those who once stood high above now had become prisoners on their knees; those trampled underfoot in the past had now become the executioners.

The power of judgment had already been handed to the Boar-Rush Braves. Diwu Lun asked them, "In your opinion, are there any among them who ordinarily did good deeds and accumulated virtue, whose crimes do not warrant death?"

As the Boar-Rush Braves pointed them out one by one, fifteen or sixteen men were singled out and removed from the death row ranks. As if granted a great amnesty, they kowtowed to Diwu Lun without end.

"Do not thank me. Thank yourselves, and thank the Boar-Rush Braves behind you."

As for the rest...

Atop the fort, Diwu Lun drew his sword. Had this been right after he first crossed over, he could never have accepted such a scene. When had his heart grown so hard? Was it when Yang Xiong died, or was it the evils he had witnessed along those two thousand eight hundred li?

"To execute Heaven's justice on behalf of the Dao — I do not say this lightly!"

As Diwu Lun's longsword swept down, a drumbeat sounded. Blade-light flashed in waves, and blood stained the earth outside the fort crimson. Wails and howls rang out between the Qin Canal and the Han Canal — no trace of pity, only pure, exhilarating release!

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"