Taiheiki

Chapter 275 Trading
The sudden death of Situ Hu Guang caused a huge uproar in Luoyang. Everyone in the city, from the Empress Dowager and the Grand General to the refugees begging on the roadside, realized one thing—the ruler of Luoyang was no longer the Empress Dowager or the Grand General, but the Marquis of Buqi, Wei Cong, the Left General of the Household. Especially after he blocked the city's access to the outside world, the prices of all necessities such as firewood, grain, fruit, and vegetables skyrocketed like a kite with a broken string. Even ordinary people who had no interest in politics understood this.

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"Has the emperor not been found yet?" As dawn broke, the faint light on the Luo River outside the city broke with the waves, and two fishing boats drifted on the river. Dou Wu asked Dou Shao, the Tiger General, with a solemn expression.

"Not yet!" Dou Shao's face was full of shame. "The main problem is that there are too many refugees in the city right now. I thought that since the Emperor is living a life of luxury, it would be easy to be discovered, but—"

"Don't forget, before the current emperor ascended the throne, he was in the Kingdom of Hejian. He hadn't even been the Marquis of Ting for more than a few days. Before that, he spent his days playing in the marketplace, no different from an ordinary child!"

"Yes, yes! Nephew will intensify the search!" Dou Shao replied, looking embarrassed.

Watching his nephew lead his men down the city wall, Dou Wu couldn't help but sigh. Standing here, he could clearly see Wei Cong's siege camp. Even across the Luo River, he could feel the sharpness and killing intent of that battle-hardened army. He felt his stomach cramping. Although he was inside a fortified city, he still felt as if he were naked.

In terms of organization, the garrison inside Luoyang City was almost intact, consisting of the five Northern Army Schools, the guards of the Imperial Guard Commandant, the city gate troops of the City Gate Commandant, the security forces under the Commandant of the Imperial Guards, and the Feathered Forest Guards. Except for the security forces of the Commandant of the Imperial Guards, all of them were at full strength. However, in reality, the combat-ready soldiers of the five Northern Army Schools had long been drawn out, and they were replaced by new recruits from the city. These new recruits were as weak and inexperienced as new grass on the battlefield, and were no match for Wei Cong's veteran soldiers outside the city.

The others are just as unreliable; they spend their lives as gatekeepers and honor guards, at most participating in a few coups, and have no idea what a real battlefield is like. They join the army only for rations, pay, and shelter. When the situation is favorable, they're fine, but once things turn bad, they'll drop their spears and flee, or even turn against the enemy.

Where are the reinforcements we've been hoping for?

Six days ago, Mengjin Wharf had already been captured by Wei Cong's army, cutting off the shortest route from the north bank of the Yellow River to Luoyang. The Hebei troops wishing to cross the river would have to go to the ferries downstream or upstream. Zhang Huan and Feng Kun in Guanzhong and Henan wouldn't stand idly by; once they learned that Wei Cong's army was already at the gates of Luoyang and victory was assured, they would certainly rush to the city. Therefore, even if the Hebei reinforcements managed to cross the river, their chances of winning against the combined forces of Zhang Huan, Wei Cong, and Feng Kun were extremely slim. Now, their only remaining hope lay in this city wall and the empire's remaining prestige.

Dou Wu walked dejectedly down the city wall, his guards waiting near the city gate. Not far away were throngs of beggars, wandering prostitutes, and fishermen hawking their catch. The fishermen's business was better than everyone else's combined. People crowded around buckets and stalls, haggling over snails, clams, and various kinds of fish. Because the Wei army had cut off the food supply from outside the city, there were many more mouths to feed, so fish prices were ten times higher than before the war and continued to rise. Those with money came to the Luo River every morning and evening, hoping to take home a fish or a jar of shellfish; those without money either wandered between the stalls plotting to steal, or stood forlornly and hopelessly watching from below the city wall.

The guards pushed through the crowd with their spears, clearing a path. Dou Wu tried his best to ignore the murmurs and curses. A rotten, slippery fish flew out from the crowd, landed at his feet, and shattered into pieces. He carefully stepped over it and climbed onto the carriage. Soon after the carriage left, the refugees were already fighting over the pieces of the rotten fish.

As the carriage passed through Pingcheng Gate, the morning air was filled with the resounding sound of hammers. A large group of carpenters had gathered there, adding wooden huts and watchtowers to the city walls. This gate directly faced Wei Cong's camp, the most likely direction of Wei's main attack. The carpenters were making good progress, but Dou Wu was quite skeptical of its effectiveness—Yique Pass was far more treacherous than this, yet it hadn't held out for more than a few days under Wei's attack; what chance did Luoyang have? As the ancients said, virtue, not strategic advantage, is what matters; high walls and fortifications can never save a capital city.

Back at the General's Mansion, Dou Wu was exhausted. He was no longer young, and especially faced with his current predicament, he felt increasingly aware of his aging. He had heard that Wei Cong was not yet thirty, in the prime of his life. Thinking of this, Dou Wu became even more dejected.

Dou Wu had just rested for a short while when Dou Jing appeared. He was Dou Shao's younger brother and served as the Commandant of the City Gates.

"Uncle, Wei Cong has already cut off the Yangqu Canal!"

"What? Wei Cong is going to attack the city?" Dou Wu stood up. The Yangqu Canal that Dou Jing mentioned was the moat outside Luoyang City, 18 to 40 meters wide and 4 to 10 meters deep. It was said to have been designed by the Duke of Zhou. This canal was an artificial channel that drew water from natural river valleys in the western part of the Luoyang Basin and poured it into the city's water system. In addition to city defense, the Yangqu Canal also served multiple purposes such as water supply and water transport, making it the lifeblood of Luoyang City.

"I don't know! But even if he doesn't attack the city, the water supply inside will soon run out!" Dou Jing said with a wry smile, "There are at least tens of thousands of refugees who have fled into the city. If the water supply is cut off, we won't be able to hold out for even a day!"

"This scoundrel is utterly vicious!" Dou Wu roared. "He actually dared to cut off the capital's water supply!"

"Uncle, we must come up with a solution!" Dou Jing said with a wry smile, "My soldiers are all locals from Luoyang. Originally, they would definitely fight to the death for the sake of their families. But if the water supply is cut off, I'm afraid—"

Although Dou Jing didn't finish speaking, Dou Wu could guess about 70-80% of what he meant. The soldiers of the city defense army might fight to the last moment for their families, but if they were asked to choose between watching their wives and children die of thirst and surrendering the city, the answer would be obvious.

"What do you mean?" Dou Wu asked.

"If possible, Uncle, you should send someone out of the city to meet with Wei Cong!" Dou Jing said in a low voice. "It's better to talk now than to talk when things have reached a dead end. After all, our Dou family has no enmity with Wei Cong, don't you think?"

Upon hearing his nephew's suggestion, Dou Wu neither immediately refused nor agreed. After a long pause, he said, "Wei Cong is using the banner of the emperor's personal rule, but he has no say in the future. What's the point of talking to him?"

“Flags are one thing, reality is another!” Dou Jing said. “Besides, Wei Cong is talking about the emperor ruling in his own right, but who that emperor will actually rule is uncertain!”

Dou Wu's eyes flickered, but he didn't speak. After a moment, he said, "I understand. Don't mention this matter again!"

“Yes!” Dou Jing replied.

Outside Luoyang City, at Biyong, the headquarters of Wei Cong.

For Hu Teng, the side hall of Biyong was far too spacious for a reception room. Moonlight cast shadows on the walls. Two candlesticks sat at either end of a table, upon which were placed plates, dishes, and cups. Two armored guards stood in the doorway. Through the walls, he could faintly hear cheers coming from outside; perhaps Wei Cong's soldiers were celebrating their impending victory? They certainly had reason to celebrate; to bring the Han Dynasty to its knees with a mere 20,000 men was an unprecedented victory.

To be honest, the hospitality he received was quite good. The dinner before him consisted of fried mutton, vegetable soup, sashimi of carp, pickled leeks, and millet porridge. The wine in his cup was also very flavorful, likely found in the cellar of some wealthy manor outside the city, but he had no appetite. The refugees in the city were selling their children for a bowl of soup or a piece of meat, while he, facing such fine food, felt no desire for it—it was practically a crime. Thinking this, he picked up a piece of mutton, put it in his mouth, and chewed, only to find it tasted like a piece of rotten wood.

The sound of the guards bowing outside the door startled Hu Teng. He quickly spat out the mutton in his mouth and stood up. He saw a young man in brocade robes enter, followed by a female Taoist priest and a burly guard. The young man nodded to Hu Teng: "Are you the envoy sent by the General?"

"I am Hu Teng, an official in the General's Mansion, sent on a mission by imperial decree!" Hu Teng hurriedly bowed to the young man: "May I ask who you are—?"

"I am Wei Cong! Sit down and let's talk!" Wei Cong pointed to the seats next to the long table and sat down.

"You must be Marquis Wei!" Although he already knew Wei Cong was young, Hu Teng was still astonished to see him in person. He carefully sat down on one side of his bottom. "I was entrusted by the General to come out of the city to meet Marquis Wei, because of the matter of the Yang Canal being cut off. There are currently more than 100,000 refugees in the city. If the Yang Canal is cut off, there will be no water available, and they will all die of thirst in just a few days. I beg Marquis Wei, for the sake of us both being Han subjects, to reopen the canal and release the water!"

"Hehehe!" Wei Cong laughed upon hearing this. "Mr. Hu, are you joking? The Yangqu Canal is not just for supplying water to the city, is it? It's also a moat. If Dou Wu pities the people, why doesn't he open the city gates and surrender? Then I will naturally open the canal and release the water!"

Wei Cong's refusal was within Hu Teng's expectations. He nodded and said, "Opening the city gates is fine, but can Marquis Wei guarantee the safety of the Dou family?"

"This—" Wei Cong was taken aback upon hearing this: "Disposing of the Dou family is the Emperor's prerogative. At most, I can guarantee that I will not harm the Dou family. As for how the Emperor decides, that is beyond my ability to comment!"

"Lord Wei is indeed an honest man!" Hu Teng laughed. "But has Lord Wei ever considered that when the late emperor had no heir, the current emperor was able to ascend to the throne entirely thanks to the Grand General and the Empress Dowager? It was the Dou family that had done the emperor a favor, not the emperor who had done the Grand General a favor. Yet the emperor did not think of repaying them, but instead issued an edict to summon foreign troops to fight, causing widespread suffering and arrows even reaching the tombs of the late emperor. What is the meaning of this?"

Wei Cong frowned: "A son does not listen to his father's faults, and a subject does not dwell on his ruler's mistakes. Besides, the world belongs to the Liu family, not the Dou family; this is common knowledge."

"The Dou family is related to the late emperor and his consort. The young emperor could not rule the country, and the current emperor is not yet fourteen years old and has not yet married. The Empress Dowager has succeeded to the throne, which is the ancestral system of the Han Dynasty. The Dou family has not overstepped this rule." Hu Teng said in a deep voice, "Moreover, the General is of great virtue and treats the virtuous with respect. He has not committed any misconduct and there is absolutely no reason for him to perish!"

Wei Cong had already understood the envoy's meaning: handing over power was not impossible, but surely they had to land safely? To be fair, this request wasn't unreasonable, but the problem was that Wei Cong wasn't someone who could make decisions on his own. He remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "I have no intention of harming the Dou family. If the Dou family wants to survive, they should pay homage to the Emperor; that is the right path!"

"Has the Dou family not shown respect to the Emperor?" Hu Teng sneered. "Lord Wei, your merits this time are great. You will know what kind of person the Emperor is in the future!"

"Mr. Hu, why be so upset!" Lu Ping said with a smile. "You went on this mission for the Dou family without fear of death, so you must have a close relationship with the Dou family, right?"

Hu Teng glanced at Lu Ping, knowing that this female Taoist must have a close relationship with Wei Cong, and snorted coldly: "I have been studying the Five Classics under the Great General for more than twenty years!"

"I see!" Lu Ping nodded. "The situation is clear now; Luoyang is no longer defensible. If the Dou family can open the city gates soon, the Han Dynasty will be fortunate, the people will be fortunate, and the Emperor will remember the Dou family's virtue and punish them leniently!"

"That's not necessarily true!" Hu Teng sneered. "The Han emperors have always been cold-hearted, forgetting past favors and repaying kindness with enmity in many cases!"

Wei Cong was getting impatient: "So what does Mr. Hu want? Let me be clear from the start, delaying tactics won't work on me!"

"The General's meaning is simple: since Marquis Wei has no old grudges against the Dou family, why not make one person the emperor, with the Liu family in charge of sacrifices and the Dou and Wei families in charge of the government? Wouldn't that be better?"

"Make one person the emperor?" Wei Cong was stunned upon hearing this: "This, this probably won't work, will it?"

"Why not?" Hu Teng laughed. "The Empress Dowager is the daughter of the Grand General. As long as Marquis Wei agrees, we can draft an edict to depose her. At that time, the Grand General and Marquis Wei will both serve as the Grand Secretary and jointly manage the government. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

This time, it was Wei Cong's turn to fall silent. Upon closer examination, Hu Teng's suggestion wasn't entirely unreasonable. Ultimately, deposing and installing the emperor consumed the Dou family's political capital. No one in the world would think that the main responsibility for this matter lay with Wei Cong. Even if things went wrong in the future, the Dou family would take the blame, and Wei Cong would at most return to Jiaozhou to retire. But Wei Cong wouldn't lose any of the benefits he would receive, and he didn't need to worry about the Dou family renege on their promises. After all, after deposing and installing the emperor, the Dou family would definitely face even more backlash from various forces across the land and would need to rely even more heavily on powerful military leaders like Wei Cong. At that time, not only Jiaozhou, but even the land south of the Yangtze River would be given to Wei Cong with just a word.

(End of this chapter)