Taiheiki

Chapter 228 Tacit understanding
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“Actually, the most important thing isn’t your background!” Wei Cong sighed. “Emperor Gengshi and Emperor Guangwu were both descendants of the King of Changsha, son of Emperor Jing of Han. Their bloodlines were far inferior to those of the emperors at the time of their uprisings. They were able to ascend the throne not because of their bloodline. Brother Liu, the reason I can’t agree to your request is because the path you’re taking is one that opposes all the scholars in the world. It’s a dead end. Even if I had the greatest abilities, I wouldn’t want to walk this path with you!”

Wei Cong's words fell into a deathly silence. Lu Ping glanced at the man beside her, then at Liu Xin, wanting to offer some advice but unsure what to say. After a long pause, Liu Xin sighed and said, "Now I understand. So you sold us weapons in the first place to use our power to create chaos in the world and profit from it?"

“That’s true, but not entirely!” Wei Cong nodded: “The wealthy in the world are greedy and treat the common people like cattle and horses, acting recklessly and causing the people to be displaced. The court turns a blind eye and a deaf ear. Your uprising is a righteous act. Moreover, your uprising will at least let the world know that the poor cannot be bullied and that many things cannot be done too far. This is good for the Han Dynasty and for yourselves!”

"You think what we did was a righteous act?" Liu Xin's face lit up with joy. "Then why did you refuse me?"

“A righteous act doesn’t necessarily guarantee success!” Wei Cong sighed. “At least I don’t think you can succeed throughout the entire Han Dynasty. In the end, according to your methods, there will be no place for scholars in this world, and the imperial court will naturally cease to exist. It will only turn into dozens of small, distinct states, returning to the state of the Spring and Autumn Period. Do you think that’s possible? However, in places like the Five Pecks of Rice Sect in Shu, such as Jingnan and Yuzhang, where the population is relatively small and the imperial court is relatively weak, if you follow your methods, reduce taxes and corvée labor, and use the chief priest to govern and educate the people, and the imperial court does not interfere, that would already be the best outcome!”

Liu Xin was a smart man, and after Wei Cong's reminder, he understood. Historically, peasant uprisings such as the Five Pecks of Rice Sect and the Way of Great Peace, guided by Taoist thought, aimed to destroy the feudal, centralized, and autocratic state that had brought them heavy oppression and disaster, and to establish a beautiful and peaceful world without exploitation, oppression, hunger, cold, disease, and calamities.

In other words, replacing the feudal autocratic unified state with religious self-governing organizations is feasible to some extent. Although religious self-governing organizations also collect a portion of agricultural surplus from their followers, their appetite and collection capacity are much smaller compared to the unified state under feudal autocratic imperial rule. In other words, at the same level of productivity, farmers living under religious self-governing organizations are much better off than their counterparts in the unified autocratic state.

However, things always have two sides. Feudal autocratic states used various resources squeezed from the vast peasantry to establish bureaucratic organizations, armies, and support a large number of full-time intellectuals and craftsmen. This enabled feudal autocratic states to far surpass religious autonomous organizations in terms of territory, size, technology, culture, and so on. They were even able to establish vast unified empires in ancient times when the level of productivity was very backward.

In comparison, religious self-governing organizations are far inferior in both military and cultural strength, and can only survive in remote areas or at the grassroots level of society where national power is relatively weak.

In Wei Cong's view, overthrowing the Han Empire was not too difficult. In the end, from an economic point of view, the empire's finances were on the verge of collapse; from a political point of view, the contradictions within the empire's ruling class had become irreconcilable, as evidenced by the repeated military coups in the capital; the only thing supporting the empire was the army. In other words, winning a few battles on the battlefield would be enough to shatter the four-hundred-year-old Han Dynasty.

But bringing along peasant armies with strong religious overtones like the Moth Bandits to overthrow the Han Empire was a different matter altogether. The scholars weren't fools; they knew very well that there was no place for them in the new world established by the Way of Peace—those religious self-governing organizations didn't need so many bureaucrats and intellectuals.

Even the unified Chinese empire, which had stood for four hundred years, would cease to exist—a fact that even Wei Cong himself couldn't accept. As a time traveler, he didn't really care about the criticisms of people in this era, because he firmly believed that he was right and that history would give him a fair evaluation. But the thought of turning the hard-won unified country established since the Qin and Han dynasties into dozens of fragments—Wei Cong could imagine what his image would be in the textbooks of future generations.

Therefore, Wei Cong rejected Liu Xin's proposal. He could hand over the marginal areas of Yuzhang and Jingnan to these displaced peasants to establish religious autonomy, because these marginal areas were no different from no-man's land to the empire. Resettling these displaced people in exchange for a ceasefire was a compromise that most people could accept. However, it was impossible for them to march on Luoyang side by side, as Liu Xin had suggested.

"It seems we can't reach an agreement!" Liu Xin sighed, his face full of disappointment. "I originally thought you weren't actually that loyal to the Han Dynasty!"

“This has nothing to do with loyalty to the Han Dynasty!” Wei Cong said. “To be honest, I sympathize with your men, and if possible, I would like to make their lives better, but—”

“I understand, we can’t work together if we have different principles!” Liu Xin interrupted Wei Cong: “So what do you plan to do?”

"Eliminate the Dou family, and with the help of the Dong family, force the court to appease you and recognize your actual control over Yuzhang and Jingnan!"

"Forgive my bluntness, but with your current strength, I'm afraid you can't do it!" Liu Xin said. "Don't be fooled by the fact that you have some troops and control a province. In the eyes of the officials in Luoyang, you are nothing. Even if the Dong family uses your power to replace the Dou family, they will deny it the moment they take power!"

“I know that!” Wei Cong smiled. “I have my own plans!”

"Alright! So, if I can put more pressure on Feng Kun, it will actually benefit you! Am I right in understanding this?"

"Yes! We must make those people in Luoyang understand that force alone cannot solve the problem of the Moth Bandits! Only then will they listen to my advice!"

"You're right!" Liu Xin laughed. "So, if I intensify my attack on Xiangyang now, you won't react in any way?"

"My soldiers have traveled thousands of miles from Jiaozhou to Jiangling and are already exhausted. The soldiers conscripted from Jiangling will need at least three or four months of training before they can be used. In addition, it is still the spring planting season, and conscripting laborers will only waste the people's strength. Not to mention, the reinforcements sent by the court have all been given to General Feng. I have nothing here, and I also have to be wary of the Wuling barbarians in Jingnan. I cannot send out a single soldier within three months. Everyone who asks me says the same thing!"

"I understand!" Liu Xin smiled broadly. He stood up and pointed to the boy beside him. "This humble Taoist wishes to keep this disciple with Marquis Wei! Is that alright?" "With me?" Wei Cong looked at the boy, then at Liu Xin, and suddenly understood. "Very well, then I'll let him stay with A-Ping. How about that?"

“Very well, anyway, I’ve passed on all my knowledge to your Aunt Lu! You can learn it from her!” Liu Xin patted the boy’s shoulder twice, then turned and walked out. Two attendants followed silently, while the boy stood there, at a loss.

“Go and take care of him!” Wei Cong whispered to Lu Ping. Lu Ping nodded, walked to the young Taoist priest, knelt down, and began to soothe him softly. Wen Sheng walked to Wei Cong’s side and whispered in his ear, “My lord, that fellow only has two attendants. Should we seize the opportunity to—” As he said this, he made a downward chopping motion with his right palm.

"No need!" Wei Cong's eyes had already shifted from Liu Xin's back in the distance to the young Taoist boy.

"That guy is the leader of a bandit gang! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"Dou Wu won't even give me a rank of Lieutenant General, so why should I solve such a big problem for him?" Wei Cong laughed, patting Wen Sheng on the shoulder: "Now is not the time for us to exert our strength, let's wait a bit longer!"

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Fancheng.

Due to the limitations of his helmet, Zhang Wen could only see straight ahead. But when he turned his head, he found that six ships had already docked. The Moth Bandit soldiers with yellow cloth wrapped around their heads surged down the gangplank like a tide. A larger ship had already anchored, and the catapults on the deck were constantly launching oil drums and stones to provide cover for the soldiers who had come ashore.

"Quickly! Send men out of the city to launch a surprise attack! We absolutely cannot let the bandits gain a foothold on the shore!" Zhang Wen shouted. Compared to Fancheng when Guan Yu flooded the seven armies decades later, the current Fancheng was much smaller, and its walls were much lower. Anyone with common sense knew that if the enemy was allowed to land, it was only a matter of time before the overwhelmingly superior bandits captured Fancheng. Without Fancheng on the north bank of the Han River, the Han army stationed in Xiangyang on the south bank would be isolated, with no choice but to either abandon the city and retreat or be overwhelmed by the bandits.

The vanguard, preparing for their charge out of the city, formed a narrow wedge shape. Leading the wedge were heavily armored warriors, mounted on horseback, spears in their right hands and small round shields strapped to their left. The firelight reflected off their armor plates, gleaming dimly. They emerged from the city through narrow, secret passages and then marched in tight formation along the city wall. Banners fluttered above their heads as they rounded the corners of the wall and charged toward the south gate, their pace quickening with each step.

Arrows rained down from the city walls, sending rocks tumbling and crashing to the ground, shattering flesh and bone. The south gate lay ahead, and the bandits swarmed forward, pushing a thick oak log with an iron-clad top. Archers surrounded the log, and whenever anyone peeked out from the walls, arrows rained down upon them.

The assault team lowered their spears, held their breath, and kicked their mounts with all their might, squeezing out their last bit of strength. The bandits below the city gate turned to face the sudden attack. The vanguard straightened their spears and shouted, "Eternal Joy!" The others echoed in unison. Arrowheads from the wedge formation flew out, colliding with steel and flesh, the rolling hooves and swords mingling with the flames.

Spears pierced leather armor and tore flesh apart. Knights discarded broken lances, replacing them with swords. The bandits abandoned their battering rams, scattered, and avoided the cavalry charge, hurling lances, arrows, and hand axes at the enemy and their horses, while thrusting long spears at those who came close. The assault troops hacked down every enemy they could reach until they broke through the enemy ranks, then circled around, preparing to regroup and try again. The defenders on the city walls cheered and hurled torches at the forgotten battering rams, attempting to burn down this most threatening structure to the city gates.

The assault team's second charge scattered the attackers, and the Moth Bandits fled in all directions; it seemed the defenders' bravery had worked. But four more ships reached the shore, and fresh troops poured down the gangplanks. Encouraged by the reinforcements, the Moth Bandits regrouped, circling the battering ram, protecting each other with shields, and attacking the enemy horses with crossbows and javelins—they gradually discovered that attacking the enemy's mounts was less daunting than attacking the fully armored enemy; an enemy without horses was not so formidable.

The commando charged again, but this time they were repelled by the Moth Bandits. The commando leader made a calm assessment and ordered a retreat—any later, and they would be entangled by a second wave of Moth Bandit reinforcements—and only destruction awaited them.

The number of assault team members returning to the city was less than half of what they had started. Everyone was exhausted. They removed their armor and drank large gulps of water mixed with wine, swallowed food, and seized the time to replenish their strength. They could hear the continuous pounding sounds coming from the south gate. The enemy was using battering rams to pound the gate, and the city walls were constantly hurling stones, grease, arrows, and anything else that could stop the attackers. But the attackers, receiving reinforcements constantly, fought with increasing ferocity. By dusk, Zhang Wen knew that the south gate would fall within the next day or two.

"We must hurry tonight and build a city wall here overnight!" the captain in charge of guarding the south gate shouted. "That way, even if the bandits break through the south gate, they will be confined to this small area and become easy targets for arrows!"

"Yes, everyone in the city, regardless of age or gender, as long as they have hands and feet, must be sent to repair the city walls!" another officer shouted. He spoke with a strong Luoyang accent, clearly a soldier drawn from the army stationed in the capital. "Let the soldiers get a good night's rest, or tomorrow we'll be finished without even fighting!"

Zhang Wen nodded. He did not speak to interrupt his officers. These veterans, who had dealt with the Qiang people in Liangzhou, had ample experience in warfare, and he did not need to issue orders haphazardly and cause them trouble.

"A great and virtuous teacher! A great and virtuous teacher!"

The shouts coming from outside the city walls made the officers stop their plans. They exchanged surprised glances. Could it be that the supreme leader of the Moth Bandits, the legendary Great Teacher with all kinds of supernatural powers, had arrived?
(End of this chapter)