Taiheiki

Chapter 217 Advance
The bandits surged through the breach in the city wall like a river bursting its banks, flooding the plains and surrounding Zhao Yannian and his men. Hundreds of spears, like the quills on a porcupine's back, pressed the defenders back to back, but the most deadly weapon was the fully drawn bows on the spearmen's backs.

"Put down your weapons, and I'll leave you with a whole corpse!"

"Yes, or we'll impale you all on wooden stakes!"

A roar erupted from the crowd. The brutal siege of the city had worn away the last vestiges of humanity in everyone, and their bloodshot eyes were filled with rage and bloodlust. Looking at the scene before him, Zhao Yannian suddenly recalled the time when he was ambushed by his enemies at the dock and surrounded under a tree. However, this time, Wei Cong would not come to his rescue.

"My lord, I can only repay your life-saving grace in the next life!" Zhao Yannian murmured to himself. He bent down and picked up a spear from the corpse on the ground. Holding a sword in his left hand and a spear in his right, he shouted, "The Great Han only has generals who would rather die than kneel!" After saying that, he roared and charged into the enemy group in front of him.

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Panyu, a villa outside the city.

bedroom.

One second he was fast asleep, and suddenly, Wei Cong woke up with a start.

Ah Jing nestled beside him, one hand gently resting on his side, her chest pressed against his back, her breathing even and soft. The silk quilt covering them was disheveled. It was late at night, the room pitch black and silent.

What did I just hear? Or did I mishear?

Wei Cong listened intently. The night wind rustled the mulberry branches in the courtyard, and from afar, he heard a cat's meow, which sounded like a baby's. Other than that, there was nothing. The place was heavily guarded, both inside and out.

Perhaps he was a little tired tonight; he couldn't remember what dream he'd just had. Maybe to prove he was better than Lu Ping, A-Jing had used every trick in the book tonight, leaving Wei Cong exhausted. He smiled slightly, feeling a bit thirsty.

He carefully slipped his arms away from her embrace, climbed out of bed, and let out a few sleepy murmurs. A few embers remained on the gilded incense burner with its animal head design on the table by the wall. In the next room, the maid on night duty was fast asleep, slumped over a table. Wei Cong decided it was best not to wake her. He walked to the door, picked up the copper kettle, and took a couple of sips of water from the spout.

The cool water chased away Wei Cong's sleepiness. He went to the bedside, picked up his coat, put it on, and opened the window. The night breeze stretched out its icy fingers, making him shiver involuntarily. Outside, there were black mulberry trees, an empty courtyard, a dark sky, and countless stars. A half-moon climbed up from behind the house, casting its watery moonlight into the courtyard. Suddenly, a special state of tranquility entered his heart, and he felt relaxed and comfortable.

A few strange noises startled Wei Cong from his reverie. To his surprise, he saw a gray crow landing on the windowsill. The bird was looking at Wei Cong with its beady black eyes, which held the kind of intelligence unique to intelligent beings.

"Believe, believe!" The gray crow let out two strange cries. Only then did Wei Cong notice a brocade pouch hanging around the bird's neck. He reached out in surprise, but the gray crow did not flinch. Wei Cong untied the pouch, pulled out a scroll of paper, and read only two lines by the moonlight before his face turned ashen: "How, how could this be?"

"My lord?" A-Jing murmured sleepily, stretching out her fair arm to her husband. Wei Cong, however, had a stern face. He quickly put on his clothes, his hair disheveled over his shoulders, looking like a wild man: "Go back to sleep, it's none of your business!" He walked to the bedside, quickly kissed the woman's forehead, and then hurried out the door.

About half an hour later, Wei Cong returned to his mansion in the city. He rushed into his study, where Lu Ping, who had been waiting there, quickly stood up and said tremblingly, "There was chaos when the city fell. By the time Liu Xin learned of this, it was too late. He ordered a grand funeral for General Zhao and immediately sent a message to me via flying crows. I originally intended to report to him tomorrow morning, but I felt the matter was of great importance, so I sent the message overnight. Please forgive me!"

"That's enough, this matter has nothing to do with you!" On the way back to the city, Wei Cong had calmed down by now: "Yan Nian's death was ultimately my fault. If I hadn't entrusted the army to him, he wouldn't have stayed under Feng Kun's command, nor would he have received such a great favor from Feng Kun, and he wouldn't have held that place to the death in battle."

Hearing Wei Cong's calm tone, Lu Ping secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, she knew that Zhao Yannian held a high position in Wei Cong's heart. If Wei Cong were to take his anger out on her, it would be troublesome: "Then how should we reply to the Great Teacher of Virtue!"

“Since he has already been buried, it wouldn’t be good to disturb him. Let him send over Yan Nian’s belongings and clothing!” Wei Cong sighed. “I’ll build him a cenotaph in Panyu!”

"That's easy, I'll get ready in a bit!"

"Now that Yan Nian is dead, it seems our northward campaign must be brought forward!" Wei Cong said in a deep voice. "You can tell that Great Teacher in your letter that I don't blame Yan Nian for his death, but as a Han official, I have no choice but to obey the Emperor's orders. When we meet on the battlefield, let's each accept our fate!"

Luoyang. The General's Mansion.

"The Moth Bandits have already captured Queyue City, and their fleet can now sail directly into the Han River. The Xiangyang and Jiangling lines are in dire need of attention! It seems the situation is deteriorating much faster than we anticipated!" Dou Wu said with a wry smile.

"Hmm! Look!" Yuan Wei pointed to the silk scroll: "In his letter, General Feng said that the enemy forces were powerful, and he had sent troops to rescue them several times but failed each time, and was repelled by the enemy. When the city fell, more than four thousand men, including General Zhao Yannian, died, and many soldiers died, which demoralized the army. He rarely says such things! It seems that Feng Kun has already been weakened!"

"So, what does Lord Yuan mean?" "Have Zhang Wen lead the assembled reinforcements to Xiangyang immediately! He's related to the Cai family of Jingzhou, which will make many things much easier for him!"

“That’s right!” Dou Wu nodded. “I will have the Ministry of Personnel draft an edict tomorrow, but the current reinforcements may not be enough.”

"That's for sure. We'll need Wei Cong's Jiaozhou troops to quell the Moth Rebels. But the journey is long and the Jiaozhou troops are too slow to be of any use. It will be at least February or March before they can be put to use."

Therefore, I believe we should recruit heroes from the four provinces of Qing, Xu, Yan, and Yu to form a new army as a reserve force. A few days ago, someone in the court suggested conscripting troops from Bing and You provinces to march south.

However, the strengths of the troops from these two regions lie primarily in mounted archery and charging attacks, while the E'zhao (黍) bandits mainly reside in Jing and Xu provinces, where the land is mostly wet and marshy, favoring naval and infantry forces. Their cavalry charges might not be as effective. Therefore, I believe it is best to primarily rely on the troops from these provinces, with those from You and Bing provinces as secondary forces! Furthermore, if Wei Cong's troops from Jiaozhou quell the E'zhao, their power will undoubtedly increase significantly. If the court lacks a strong army to suppress them, it may not be a blessing for the nation!

"What Lord Yuan says makes sense!" Dou Wu nodded admiringly. Although Yuan Wei was quite self-serving in his actions, and in many matters he intentionally or unintentionally benefited the Yuan family of Runan and their protégés and former officials, he was insightful, mature, and a true minister of state. Having such a person as his fellow official in the Ministry of Personnel was more beneficial than harmful.

"Then let the imperial court issue an edict ordering the prefects of these four prefectures to raise troops on their own?"

“No!” Yuan Wei shook his head: “The prefects of various prefectures and counties may not know the art of warfare, and the soldiers recruited from the headquarters may not be suitable. In my opinion, it would be better for the General to select a few officials from the headquarters who are skilled in military strategy and loyal to the court to serve as recruiting officers, and order them to recruit soldiers in various prefectures and counties by imperial decree. In this way, the recruited soldiers will be suitable, and the General can command them as easily as his own limbs. Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?”

"This—" Dou Wu hesitated. Yuan Wei's suggestion was good, and it could be said that it was entirely for Dou Wu's benefit, but the problem was that it went a bit too far. According to the Han dynasty system, generals were appointed when there was trouble and dismissed when there was no trouble, and the peacetime management and wartime command of the army were separate. And the Grand General, as the nominal supreme military commander, had actually become the head of the inner court after Emperor Wu of Han.

Therefore, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Grand General was no longer a military position. For example, the five schools of the Northern Army had no command authority over them unless there was a special edict from the emperor (such as assigning each army to the Grand General). According to Yuan Wei's suggestion, generals were selected from Dou Wu's subordinates to recruit soldiers in various provinces and form an army several times the size of the Northern Army. Moreover, the commanders of these armies were all Dou Wu's men, which clearly violated the Han Dynasty system.

"I know this matter violates the old system!" Yuan Wei sighed. "But these are turbulent times. Without a strong army, how can we subdue the rebels and suppress the prefectures and counties? If the army is not in the hands of the Grand General, isn't that like holding the ultimate weapon in the wrong hands? In my opinion, after the rebels have been pacified and the world is at peace, I will relinquish my military power. Then the world will naturally understand the Grand General's good intentions!"

"I understand!" Dou Wu sighed. "Now that things have come to this, there's no other way! Alas, only Lord Yuan knows my predicament!"

The imperial court's recruitment notice immediately caused a great uproar in Luoyang. Scholars in the capital, especially the imperial students who had come from all directions, were astonished to discover that Dou Wu, the former leader of the scholars renowned for his virtue, had done something even Liang Ji and Dou Xian had never done after becoming Grand General—he used the court's name to privately recruit and form a new army. This undoubtedly violated the most sensitive political taboo of the time. After a brief period of shock and silence, these young scholars, who prided themselves on their integrity, virtue, and backbone, gathered in small groups to discuss General Dou Wu's actions.

"This is utterly absurd! Our Han dynasty has its own system. If we want to quell the E'er rebels, we can mobilize troops from various commanderies and kingdoms, or conscript troops from vassal states. Why must we recruit soldiers? And why use our own subordinate officials? Doesn't Dou Youping know the law?"

"That's not quite right! The Moth Bandits are all in the south, while the troops of the vassal states are mostly in the north, where the climate and soil are unsuitable. The troops of the commanderies and kingdoms have long been neglected. What else can we use if we don't recruit soldiers? As for using the general's subordinates, it's all written in the imperial edict that his subordinates are all talented individuals skilled in military strategy. Of course, using them is better than using the officials of the various commanderies and kingdoms!"

"Nonsense! Does our Great Han have no talented individuals in the General's staff who are not skilled in military strategy? The Governor of Liangzhou, the Protector of the Qiang, and the General Who Crosses the Liao River have plenty of talented and brave warriors under their command. Why doesn't the General use them? Why does he insist on using people from his own staff? In the end, isn't he just trying to use his former subordinates to control this army? Isn't that treacherous? Why are you speaking up for him? Could you be one of Dou Wu's faction?"

"Bullshit! I acted out of public interest, how dare you slander me? In my opinion, you are one of the eunuchs' faction, harboring resentment towards the General for killing the eunuch traitor, and that's why you wantonly slander the General!"

"Who is the eunuch faction? Stop talking nonsense! Eunuchs are no good, and neither are the imperial relatives. Before they came to power, they pretended to be benevolent, but once they came to power and seized power, their greed was even worse than that of the eunuchs. At least the eunuchs wouldn't send people out to recruit soldiers themselves!"

Similar arguments could be heard everywhere in Luoyang. The scholars were divided into two factions and attacked each other because of this matter, as if they had forgotten that just a few months earlier, they had united and cheered for the destruction of the eunuch group.

Luoyang, Yuan Mansion.

Yuan Shao gracefully dismounted, tossed his reins to the approaching steward, and asked, "What's been happening in Luoyang these past few days? When I entered the alley just now, I saw dozens of imperial students standing there, shouting something."

"Go, take the young master's horse to the stables in the backyard. Feed it some top-quality feed first, and be careful!" The steward didn't answer Yuan Shao's question immediately. After handing the horse to a servant, he smiled and extended his right hand in a gesture of invitation: "Young master, you've just returned from outside, and there are some things you're not clear about yet. Come, let's go inside and talk!"

Yuan Shao nodded. He knew the steward was about to say something inappropriate to say in public. The steward led Yuan Shao a short distance away, and when no one was around, he smiled and said, "You don't know, while you were away from Luoyang, a major event happened in the city. It caused quite a stir. Your uncle has been claiming illness at home for seven or eight days to avoid this matter!"

"What could have happened to force my uncles to feign illness?" Yuan Shao laughed. He knew his two uncles all too well. On the surface, the common trait of the Yuan family for generations was their adeptness at choosing sides, skillfully navigating between the eunuchs and the imperial relatives, never suffering any losses and never missing out on any advantages. But Yuan Shao knew in his heart that although his two uncles were smooth and shrewd, they were not afraid of trouble and would definitely stand up when necessary. Otherwise, in the rigidly principled scholar-official class of the Eastern Han Dynasty, their reputation would have been ruined long ago. He truly hadn't imagined anything that could force them to feign illness and stay at home.

“Normally it wouldn’t be like this, but this time it’s different!” The steward chuckled as he recounted the whole story, and then said with a smile, “Young Master Benchu, those ignorant brats have been blocking our door every day, shouting and demanding that your uncle stand up and impeach the Grand General for his arrogance. Don’t you think this is making things difficult for us?”

(End of this chapter)