Taiheiki

Chapter 286 Suicide
Faced with Feng Kun's outburst, Zhang Huan fell silent. As a native of Liangzhou, he probably understood the situation more deeply than Feng Kun. After all, the Han Dynasty had never discussed abandoning Ba Commandery, but it had indeed discussed abandoning Liangzhou in the court. Although the court ultimately did not actually abandon Liangzhou, the one who proposed this was General Deng Zhi, grandson of Grand Tutor Deng Yu, son of Protector of the Qiang Deng Xun, and brother of Empress He Xi Deng Sui. Such a prominent figure speaking in court certainly did not represent only his own opinion.

From the mid-Eastern Han Dynasty onwards, the Qiang rebellion became a deep-seated wound on the empire, proving difficult to heal despite massive expenditures of manpower and resources. Ultimately, this was due to the unique geographical location of Liangzhou. During the Han Dynasty, Liangzhou roughly encompassed parts of present-day Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, and a small eastern part of Xinjiang. Its long and narrow shape, surrounded on three sides by Qinghai, Mongolia, and the Western Regions, made it far from the core areas. Its initial establishment was driven by the offensive strategic objective of "connecting with the Western Regions and severing one arm of the Xiongnu."

By the mid-Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu, as a northern military threat to the Han, had ceased to exist. Therefore, there was no longer any need to worry about the Xiongnu joining forces with the Qiang and Hu tribes of Qinghai to encircle the Han from the west. Furthermore, the Eastern Han's national strength was far inferior to that of the Western Han, and its presence in the Western Regions was much weaker. Moreover, due to the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, Guanzhong was devastated, and the capital and economic center shifted to the east, making the maintenance of Liangzhou even more costly. Therefore, for the Eastern Han, if a Qiang rebellion broke out, continuing to maintain a costly salient like Liangzhou would be extremely uneconomical.

For the people of Liangzhou, this was a betrayal—their ancestors had lived peacefully in the interior, having been relocated here to farm and fight for over two hundred years, their tombs and lands all located here. Now the court, after calculating the costs, deemed continuing to defend the region too high and demanded they abandon their tombs and lands, returning to the interior as tenant farmers and refugees. No one could bear that! Therefore, although the Eastern Han court ultimately did not pass a decision to abandon Liangzhou, this feeling of being abandoned was still widespread among the people of Liangzhou. Zhang Huan, as a member of the Liangzhou gentry, naturally didn't need to worry about becoming a refugee, but he was very clear about his place in the eyes of the court.

"So you're saying we should thank Wei Cong for being appointed as the Three Dukes and receiving stipends from ten thousand households?" Zhang Huan said coldly.

"Whether you are grateful or not is your business, but do you think that without Wei Cong, the Empress Dowager would have appointed you as one of the Three Dukes and granted you a fief of 9,400 households?"

Zhang Huan was speechless for a moment, and then said, "If I have to be Wei Cong's dog, I'd rather not have any of this!"

"Ranming, oh Ranming!" Feng Kun sighed, "You're incredibly stupid. If Wei Cong wanted you to be his dog, how could you have become one of the Three Dukes? Don't forget, imperial edicts require the signatures of the Three Dukes. If neither you nor I sign them, the edict won't pass. By making you one of the Three Dukes, he can no longer order you around as he pleases. Do you think Wei Cong is that stupid?"

"Then, why is he doing this?"

"How would I know?" Feng Kun sneered. "If his thoughts were so easy to guess, how could he be in this situation today? All I know is that I am currently one of the Three Dukes, enjoying a stipend of ten thousand households that can be passed down to my descendants, all of which comes from Wei Cong's kindness. Yuan Shu and his gang wanted to ambush him, and while I wouldn't say I'm on his side, I shouldn't at least be going against him, right?"

“Yuan Shu and his group certainly won’t just sit idly by and wait to die. What if Wei Cong asks you and me to send troops to fight them if a war breaks out?”

“Wei Cong is now the Grand General and the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.” Feng Kun sneered, “Back then, you were made a General of the Central Army, a Cavalry Commandant, and a Protector of the Qiang. Now that you’ve been made one of the Three Dukes, you’re refusing to do those things? Do you think this is appropriate?”

Zhang Huan's mouth seemed glued shut. He turned and walked to his horse, mounted it, gave the reins a hard shake, and rode away. Watching Zhang Huan's departing figure, Feng Kun spat on the ground: "He's clearly a duck, yet he tries to get into the flock of geese, making himself unpopular with everyone. Why bother!"

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The Office of the Inspector of the Capital Region.

The straw on the ground reeked of urine. There were no windows, no bed, not even a latrine. Yuan Ji vaguely remembered that the walls were light red, and besides rammed earth, there were many pebbles. There was a door covered with sheet metal. When he was pushed in, he didn't even have time to see the furnishings before the door closed. There was no light at all; it was no different from being blind.

Or rather, he was no different from a dead man. Before entering, he had walked down a flight of stairs, so the cell must be underground. He recalled the terrifying legends he had heard about the imperial prison. People like Dou Lin and Yin Feng, whose status was no less than his own, could only beg for mercy from the jailers like the most lowly servants when they fell into this prison. Thinking of this, Yuan Ji trembled all over. Was he going to end up like that?

He cursed everyone who had attended the gathering at Deer Valley that day: Bao Xin, Wu Jing, He Yong, Wu Qiong, Xu You, and of course Yuan Shu, that ambitious fellow, for it was he who had gathered them together and caused such a mess. Then, in the end, he blamed himself: "Fool!" he shouted into the darkness, "You damned fool!"

Thinking of his wife in Luoyang and his two young sons, he wanted to cry out loud, but no tears came out. It was as if fear had frozen his body, leaving no liquid to flow.

The silence was finally broken by footsteps. Yuan Ji couldn't tell if it was his imagination or if someone had really come. He got up from the ground and heard the key turning in the lock. The door was pushed open, and the glaring light stung his eyes, forcing him to turn his head and shield his eyes with his hand.

"Brother Yuan! Are you alright?"

Yuan Ji's eyesight had not yet returned to normal, so he could not see who it was and could only whisper, "Water, water!"

"Give him water!" the man said, placing a water jug ​​in front of Yuan Ji. He held it with both hands and gulped down the water, which spilled from the corners of his mouth and into his beard. Yuan Ji stopped drinking when he could no longer. "What time is it now?" he asked weakly.

"Two days have passed! Do you want something to eat?" The man squatted down, and Yuan Ji recognized him only then: "It's you, Deng Zhong?"

“Yes, it’s me!” Deng Zhong nodded. “This is the dungeon of the Sili Commandant’s Office. The General has assigned me to interrogate the Lugu case!”

"case?"

"Yes, they colluded with rebels, plotted to assassinate the Grand General, set fire to Luoyang City, attacked the inner palace amidst the chaos, and then installed Liu Heng, the Prince of Pingyuan, as the new emperor. That's the mess they're making!"

"What?" Yuan Ji was stunned. After a long while, he exclaimed in surprise, "This, I knew nothing about any of this! Brother Deng, you must report this to the General for me!" "I believe you, but Yuan Shu is the mastermind behind this case, or at least one of the masterminds!" Deng Zhong said, "For a major case of treason like this, the entire family will definitely be exterminated, so whether you know about it or not is actually not important. There is one more thing I can tell you: Liu Heng, the Prince of Pingyuan, the one Yuan Shu plotted to have installed as emperor, has committed suicide! His concubines and two sons also committed suicide with him."

Deng Zhong's voice wasn't loud, but to Yuan Ji it sounded like thunder, making him feel weak all over. After a moment, he asked in a low voice, "Is everything confirmed? Is there no way to turn back?"

"Those arrested in Lugu have all confessed, and based on their confessions, we are now apprehending their accomplices. More than four hundred people have been arrested, including over forty officials with salaries of six hundred shi or more. Countless contraband items, such as privately smuggled armor and kerosene, have been discovered, along with numerous related lists and oaths." Deng Zhong paused here, "To be honest, your brother is incredibly audacious. If it had been Emperor Mingzhang who had carried out the extermination of the eunuchs, his entire family would have been wiped out long ago. But he dares to do it again after doing it once. Does the Yuan family of Runan have any guts?"

Hearing this, Yuan Ji was at a loss for words: "But, but I really don't know!"

"Then why didn't you confess?" Deng Zhong asked. "According to your confession, you were also present in Lugu, but you didn't confess afterward. If you don't confess in this kind of thing, you're an accomplice. You should know that very well!"

"Someone has come forward? Someone has come forward?" Yuan Ji asked.

"Of course, otherwise why do you think the General would have acted so quickly?" Deng Zhong revealed a mocking smile: "Brother Yuan, you are really too naive. With so many people knowing about this, how could no one have reported it? This is an assassination attempt on the General in the palace, and the burning of Luoyang. To be honest, I still can't believe it. Yuan Gonglu is, after all, a member of the Yuan family of Runan, and has been receiving the Han's salary for over a hundred years, right? What has the Han family done to wrong him that he would do such a thing? Doesn't he have any conscience at all?"

Yuan Ji remained silent for a long while before asking, "What about Yuan Shu? Was he captured?"

"He was lucky. By the time the hunters arrived at Deer Valley, he had already left, and no one knew where he went. But the bounty had already been issued: a million coins for his head, three hundred thousand for the person who provided a lead, and the general even added three hundred taels of gold with his own money. With such a reward, it wouldn't matter where he escaped to!"

"I understand!" Yuan Ji gave a bitter smile: "You came to see me because you want me to commit suicide!"

“That’s right!” Deng Zhong nodded. “In the end, the Yuan family of Runan has too great a reputation and too many disciples and former officials. If you are willing to commit suicide, then the collateral branches can be adopted, and the land will not all be confiscated by the government! However, the main branch’s sons will not be spared death!”

"I understand! Actually, I had a bit of a premonition, but I still had a sliver of hope that it wouldn't really come to pass." Yuan Ji sighed deeply. "Then have someone bring some hot water and new clothes so I can take a bath and leave with a clean conscience!"

"Of course, food, wine, hot water, wooden tubs, and new clothes are all prepared. Please help yourself, Brother Yuan!" Deng Zhong waved his hand, and then hot water, wooden tubs, food, and wine were brought in from the outer room. Looking at all this, Yuan Ji sighed deeply, "If only I had known this earlier!"

The following day, the imperial court issued an edict, sparing the entire Yuan family—more than seventy members—from committing suicide in prison, and moved by their integrity, sparing them the crime of exterminating their clan, and only executing the ringleader Yuan Shu and his family. This edict immediately caused a huge sensation in Luoyang and even throughout the land.

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Luoyang, Pingyang Gate.

"More than seventy members of one family, more than twenty of whom held official positions, and they're all dead! Tsk tsk!" A student from the Imperial Academy, looking up at the notice by the gate, shook his head. "Four generations of officials holding the rank of Three Dukes—what wealth and glory that must have been! And it all vanished like a bubble. What a pity, what a tragedy, what a lament!"

"In my opinion, what's there to be pitiful about?!" someone sneered. "He deserves it!"

"How dare you speak like that!" the imperial student roared. "The entire Yuan family of Runan is dead, and we can't even utter a word of pity or lament?"

"That's why I said you know nothing!" someone sneered. "It's clearly written in the proclamation: that son of a bitch Yuan Gonglu plotted a rebellion, assassinated the Grand General, and murdered the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. And that's not all; he also had a large amount of oil prepared, intending to simultaneously burn Luoyang down so he could carry out his plan. I ask you, if that bastard succeeds, how many of us—me, you, and everyone here—wouldn't be wiped out? This scoundrel deserves to have his entire family exterminated! You pity someone who's still your own person? What kind of fool are you?"

The student was speechless for a moment after being interrupted by others. After a long while, he finally said, "These are just one side of the story. Who knows if they are true or false!"

"Are you blind? Look at what this notice says at the end! To gain the trust of the people, the oil and armor seized from the criminal's residence have been displayed at the gate of the Sili Commandant's Office. If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself! How the Yuan family and General Wei fight is none of our business, but setting fire to the city is unacceptable. Back then, when Wei Cong besieged the city, he only cut off the Yang Canal, but he didn't set the city on fire!"

The man's words immediately drew a chorus of agreement. Like most residents of capital cities throughout history, the people of Luoyang were long accustomed to the various infightings within the imperial upper echelons. The vast majority of them held a cynical attitude towards such struggles, finding it difficult to gain genuine support from either the victors or the vanquished. If their political stance had to be summed up in one sentence, it would be: "They support whoever wins."

However, all of this hinges on one crucial condition: their own interests must not be harmed. Given that Wei Cong had previously cut off the Yangqu water supply during his siege of Luoyang, leading to an epidemic in the city, most of the people of Luoyang harbored resentment towards Wei Cong and even felt some sympathy for those who opposed him. But Yuan Shu's use of arson to oppose Wei Cong crossed a line. No matter how much they opposed Wei Cong, they wouldn't risk their lives and property.

(End of this chapter)