Taiheiki

Chapter 344 Cruel People
"Yes, he was Han Xin, one of the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty. Throughout his life, he led troops to victory in every battle. It was thanks to him that Emperor Gaozu was able to defeat Xiang Yu and establish the Han Dynasty. Not long after Xiang Yu's death, Han Xin was also placed under house arrest in Chang'an by Emperor Gaozu. Later, when Emperor Gaozu led his troops on a campaign, Han Xin was tricked into the palace by Empress Lü and executed!"

"Han Xin? I've heard of that name. He seems to be a famous hero among your Han people. I never imagined he would meet such a tragic end!" General Ju Ting sighed. "Your Han emperors are so heartless. Han Xin made such great contributions; even if he committed a terrible mistake, it could be forgiven! Why did you have to kill him?"

"Hehe!" Ying Feng laughed, "We Han people have a saying: 'When the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked.' Since the Hegemon-King is dead, no one can threaten Emperor Gao anymore, so Han Xin is useless to Emperor Gao. And Han Xin has such great abilities that he has already threatened Emperor Gao, so regardless of whether Han Xin has done anything wrong, Emperor Gao wants him dead!"

Upon hearing this, General Gochō turned ashen-faced and looked dazed. He sighed, "Does being useless mean one must die?"

"That's not true. There are so many useless people who can live well, but if someone is useless yet too capable, they probably won't live long!"

"I understand!" General Ju-ting smiled wryly and bowed to Ying Feng, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Lord Ying. I have learned a great deal!"

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The capital of Funan.

The reinforcements arrived much earlier than Yu Wen had anticipated. On the sixth day after he returned to the capital, Duan Wei's fleet sailed into Tonle Sap Lake. This delighted Yu Wen, as he no longer needed to have his soldiers leave the camp at night and return during the day to play tricks on the Funan people.

"This humble servant greets Commandant Duan!" Yu Wen bowed to Duan Wei at the head of the table. "This humble servant has been eagerly awaiting reinforcements, like rain after a long drought. I wonder how many troops you have brought this time, Commandant!"

"I brought 1,700 men! The rest of the troops are under my brother's command, and they're traveling by land. They'll probably arrive a bit later!" Duan Wei looked around and laughed, "The Prince of Funan seems to be doing alright. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Captain, you are unaware!" Yu Wen said with a bitter smile, "The King of Funan led his troops to confront the Ju-ting people, but they were attacked by fire and almost the entire army was wiped out. Even the King of Funan is missing. The situation is extremely critical. My officers and soldiers are few in number and not enough to boost morale. I have no choice but to send the soldiers out of the camp at night and pretend to be reinforcements arriving during the day. But this is not a long-term solution. In time, the Funan people will surely see through it!"

"Hahaha! Leaving the camp at night and disguising themselves as reinforcements during the day? That's a brilliant plan, I'm so glad you came up with it!" Duan Wei laughed heartily upon hearing this. "Hearing you say that, I'm sure you've had a tough time. By the way, now that the Prince of Funan is missing, who's in charge of the capital now?"

"It's the Queen of Funan! No, it should be called the Queen Mother. Two days ago, Funan officially appointed the eldest son of the former King of Funan as the new ruler. However, the new king is still young and incapable of ruling, so the Queen Mother is the one who actually holds power!"

"The one in power is the Queen Mother, hehe!" Duan Wei chuckled. "In this respect, Funan is quite similar to our Han Dynasty, with weak children and strong mothers, and women holding power! Alright, take me to see the Queen Mother first, and we'll discuss what to do next!"

"Here!"

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Passing through the palace gates constructed of massive stones, the passageway is lined with majestic bas-reliefs—deities working together to churn the sea of ​​milk in search of the elixir of immortality. The artisans' exquisite craftsmanship imbues the gods with lifelike forms, and the air is filled with the rich aroma of sandalwood and tropical flowers. According to Funan tradition, the royal palace should be built of teak, a hard, rot-resistant wood with beautiful grain, considered a symbol of immortal royalty. Along the smooth corridors and pillars, statues of deities with enigmatic smiles adorn the walls.

"Extravagant and unrestrained, exceeding all limits!" Duan Wei sneered. "A mere barbarian king dares to waste so much manpower and resources to satisfy his own desires. What about the common people? No wonder he can't even deal with a few mountain folk."

“This—” Yu Wen smiled: “Actually, in my opinion, the people of Funan are living quite well, at least better than the people of the Han Dynasty!”

"Oh? That can't be right!" Duan Wei exclaimed in surprise. "I saw it all when I came here. The temples and palaces of Funan are so magnificent. I wonder how much manpower it must have cost. The people must be suffering terribly!"

"The rulers of Funan do indeed demand a lot, but this place is different from our Han Dynasty. First of all, the land is flat and fertile, and the lakeside areas can be irrigated with just a little cultivation; secondly, the climate is warm, rice can be harvested three times a year, resulting in abundant grains, and the lakes are full of fish. The people do not need clothing or charcoal to keep warm, and they also have less need for firewood, straw, cotton and hemp. Naturally, they live better than the people of our Han Dynasty!"

"Is that so?" Duan Wei recalled the local water dwellers he had seen when he arrived. Regardless of age or gender, they were all dressed in thin clothes, many with only a piece of cloth wrapped around their waists, so they naturally didn't need to keep warm. The houses on the shore were basically built with bamboo and reeds, so the construction cost was definitely cheaper than that of houses in Han areas. Considering the local rice harvest three times a year and the developed fishing resources, the Funan people had at least three of the four expenses of "clothing, food, housing, and transportation" that were cheaper than those of the Han people at that time, so their lives were naturally much easier.

"If that's the case, then Funan must be a paradise!" Duan Wei laughed.

"I haven't been here long enough to know if it's a paradise!" Yu Wen laughed. "But in my opinion, if it's well-managed, this place could indeed be a paradise for us!"

The two exchanged a knowing smile. They had already arrived at the Queen's palace and, after being announced, entered. Yu Wen bowed to the Queen of Funan at the head of the table: "Your Majesty, this is Duan Wei, the Tiger Fang Captain who led the reinforcements. His elder brother is Duan Jiong, the Chief Secretary of the General's Office!"

"No need for formalities!" The Queen gestured for the two to sit down and said with a smile, "Our country is located in a remote and desolate place, and we are truly grateful for the assistance of your esteemed nation in sending troops to protect us. I just wonder how many troops Commandant Duan has brought this time!"

"This humble general has brought two thousand men with him, and my elder brother is following closely behind. The total number of soldiers he leads is approximately twenty thousand!"

"Twenty thousand men? So many?" The Queen was taken aback. Of course, she knew that the Han army's armor and weapon training far surpassed that of Funan. With such a large army, their purpose was probably not just to rescue Funan. She naturally knew the saying that it's easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away.

"Oh?" Duan Wei smiled upon hearing this, "Why is Your Majesty so surprised? Is it because you think there are too many soldiers from our Han Dynasty?"

"Captain, you jest!" The Queen, having recovered her compliment, said with a forced smile, "The more troops your envoy commands, the safer our country will be. How could I complain about having too many? It's just—"

"But what?" Duan Wei asked.

"But my country is small and my people are poor. I'm afraid we can't afford to support so many soldiers from your country!" "Is that so?" Duan Wei laughed. "But I heard from my colleagues that your country can grow three rice harvests a year, and your lakes are rich in various fish, so your army has plenty of food. Why do you say you can't afford to support them? Are you worried that we'll come and not leave?"

"How could that be? How could that be!" The Queen was shocked upon hearing this and quickly denied it, saying, "The Kingdom has come to our aid in this time of crisis, how could I possibly think such a thing!" She denied it repeatedly, and after a long while, Duan Wei finally smiled and said, "If that's not the case, then that's for the best. To be honest, Your Majesty, my brother is from Liangzhou. He is straightforward and hates people who are two-faced. If someone is playing tricks on him behind his back, he will definitely make that fellow pay!" As he said this, he drew his sword halfway from his waist, then suddenly pushed it back in. The crisp sound of the blade hitting the scabbard made the Queen tremble involuntarily.

The reception had clearly reached a breaking point. The Queen made up an excuse and took her leave. Duan Wei walked out the door and laughed, "That woman has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Rather than playing mind games with her, it's better to scare her a little, and she'll behave herself!"

"Isn't the captain afraid of scaring her too much? He might just end up tearing off all pretense of civility?" Yu Wen said with a wry smile.

“You don’t understand!” Duan Wei laughed. “My brother and I have been dealing with those Qiang dogs in the Northwest for over a decade, and what we’ve learned is that all barbarians are cowards who fear power but don’t appreciate kindness. The best way to deal with them is to let them know your strength from the start, so they’ll understand who the boss really is. Otherwise, they’ll definitely scheme behind your back and mess things up!”

"This—" Yu Wen smiled wryly. Although he was in Jiaozhou, he had naturally heard of Duan Jiong's reputation. It should be said that Duan Jiong's hardline approach had some justification in the war against the Qiang people in the northwest. After all, the Han-Qiang war had been going on for over a century, with countless battles large and small, leaving both sides with deep-seated hatred. Under these circumstances, while the dove-like approach of hoping to appease the Qiang through appeasement had its merits, it was unlikely to be effective in practice. Duan Jiong's strategy of treating all Qiang who didn't kneel as enemies and exterminating them was simple and brutal, but it was indeed very effective in the short term. However, whether this approach would be suitable for the Funan Kingdom was another matter. But Duan Jiong was his superior, and he didn't need to offend his brother over such a small matter.

"Alright!" Duan Wei waved his hand. "The most important thing right now is to defeat the Ju-ting people's attack, and then we can focus on dealing with these Funan people. The men I brought are all warriors, but we're short of servants, cooks, livestock, and everything else. What do you think we should do?"

"That's easy to say!" Yu Wen laughed. "Let me go and discuss it with the Prime Minister of Funan!"

"Okay, then this is yours!" Duan Wei said with a satisfied smile.

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"These Han people are definitely here with ill intentions!" The Queen trembled violently as she entered her bedroom. If the envoy Yu still possessed a noble air, then that Captain Duan was nothing short of an Asura—yes, an Asura demon who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Only a warrior who had experienced countless battles and completely disregarded the lives of others could give off that kind of aura. The Han emperor had sent such a person; his purpose was self-evident.

"Mother, why are you shivering? Are you sick?" A childish voice came from the bed.

"No, no!" The Queen forced a smile, walked to the window, and embraced her eldest son: "My darling, I'm fine!"

“But, but you are trembling!” the young king asked, feeling his mother’s body shaking violently for the first time.

"My darling, he's so excited, his mother is so excited!" The Queen stroked her son's hair and kissed him. "Bring me a cup of warm wine!"

"Excited?" The young king watched as his mother downed the hot mead she had brought him, a blush spreading across her pale cheeks.

"Pour another cup!" the Queen called out. She could see the doubt in her son's eyes. He had grown up quickly; he was no longer the child who believed everything she said. This was a good thing. In this terrible era, children had to grow up fast, or they would be devoured by death. Thinking of this, her heart trembled violently. She had never felt so much love for this child.

"The Han reinforcements have arrived, and their ships are anchored by the lake!" The Queen took a wine cup from a palace maid and explained to the young king, "With them, we no longer need to worry about the Ju-ting people's attack."

"That's wonderful! Does that mean Father can come back?" The young king smiled.

"Father?" The Queen looked bewildered; she had almost forgotten about this man.

"Yes, Father left here to defeat the Ju-ting people. If the Han army can defeat the Ju-ting people, then Father can come back, right?" the little king asked excitedly.

The young king's question left the queen speechless; she was momentarily at a loss for words. In a sense, the young king's ascension to the throne blocked the return of the missing King of Funan. After all, even the most spacious throne can only accommodate one person, but how could she explain such a cruel question to an innocent child?

"I'm afraid your father won't be able to return!" the queen said with a bitter smile.

"Why?" the little king jumped up and asked like any innocent child, "Can't the arrival of the Han army drive away the Ju people?"

"It's not a matter of whether or not we can drive the Ju-ting people away!" the Queen explained with difficulty. "You are now the king, and a country cannot have two kings, do you understand?"

"Does Mother mean that because I am the king, Father cannot come back?" the little king asked rhetorically.

"Yes, that's about it!"

"Then I won't be king anymore, will my father be able to come back then?"

"This—" The Queen gave a bitter smile. Behind the young king's innocent words lay a cruel truth—usually, there was only one path to leaving the throne: death. Knowing her husband as she did, she knew he would never forget someone who had ascended his throne while he was away. If he were to regain the throne, the first to die would be this child.

(End of this chapter)